


Thorns

by blackpinkaus



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Detective AU, F/F, Interactive au, Murder Mystery, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 56,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackpinkaus/pseuds/blackpinkaus
Summary: Chaeyoung has had enough of disrespectful and abusive men in her life.Jennie is the lead detective in charge of finding the serial killer that’s been the talk of the town.
Relationships: Jennie Kim/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé
Comments: 17
Kudos: 118





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> Since this fic is interactive, I'm posting it on twitter before posting each chapter on ao3.  
> Basically, if you want to participate in the interactive part of the story, then follow my twitter @/biackpinkaus, each polls will be posted there, and I'll only post each chapters on ao3 when the polls are over (the whole story ixs on twitter as well,). If you just want to read the story without having to vote etc, then you can stay here, just be aware that most of the important decisions will be taken by the readers.
> 
> Also, this is a mystery/thriller AU, so it will contains triggering and mature content, don't read if you're sensitive to those topics.
> 
> Enjoy the story :)

**?**

The woman stares at the man before her with a smile before kissing his jaw, gently, softly. He can barely feel it, yet it sends a shiver down his entire body.

"Please..." He begs, his voice low, "Hurry up, god-"

Her answer is only a mere chuckle, before she gets up, leaving him alone on his bed as a groan leaves his mouth.

His hands are bound to the headboard, he can't move, and she finds it oddly satisfying. She has all the power. She loves having power.

"You know," She says, her voice is barely above a whisper. "You're almost too easy,"

"What is this supposed to mean?" The man asks, doing a poor job at hiding how such a simple statement offended him. She loved those men, how easy they were to break. It was pleasant, really.

"Nothing." Her tone is firmer as she gets closer to him once again.

The woman leans closer to his face, her lips brushing against his earlobe.

" _Beg_."

"God I-"

She can hear how is breathing becomes uneven, how his chest rises up and back down quickly, how his voice becomes weaker by the second.

When a few seconds passes and the woman still hasn't moved, he breaks, completely, "Fuck, please- do something, please,"

"Good boy." She laughs before getting up again. "It should just take a minute now," She states, calmly.

"Wh-What?"

"Shh, just relax," She tries to soothe him,

"I..." His breathing has slowed down now, and she keeps on smiling at the scene. He looks so helpless like this. So pathetic.

She sees his eyes flutter for a few seconds before completely closing as one last word leaves his mouth in a low sigh.

" _Rosé_..."  
  
  


**JENNIE**

Jennie's day didn't start in the best of ways.

She didn't wake up in time, her alarm betraying her, and with no one by her side to wake her up in time, she ended up being too late and missing her bus. She had to run to work with an atrocious headache that was just a reminder of the night before. Jennie had always hated to walk, so running was the worst thing _ever_. Except when she was on duty, obviously.

She quite liked the rush of running after a robber or a criminal (she never bothered running for less, though).

When she finally arrived at the police station, only ten minutes too late, which was a miracle given the hour she woke up at, she was greeted by her captain and his usual _oh so_ positive attitude.

"Desk duty," He only said, glaring at her, before turning away and locking himself up in his office.

Which lead us to now, with Jennie trying to get over the pile of paperwork her boss gave her that might just be about her size. On top of that, her colleague shamelessly checking her out when he thinks she isn't looking clearly doesn't make it better. She would've said something, usually. But not today, she's too tired to deal with it, and he will probably never change anyway.

Oh, how she wishes she had her own office. She is by far the best detective here, she had least deserves a good spot in the overcrowded room, but she inherited the worst one, surrounded by creeps.

If there is one thing Jennie hates more than walking (or running, for that matter), it probably is paperwork. This is the worst part of her job. She loves to challenge her mind, solve crimes on her own, not fill up some boring paper.

It's already two in the afternoon, and Jennie thinks she'll never finish this by the end of the day.

"You look like shit," She hears a voice say and doesn't even turn around, recognizing it immediately, as she feels the person sit on the chair beside her desk.

"Thanks, Jisoo." She grumbles,

"No problems" The girl chuckles before squeezing her shoulder gently, "Hey, Jen, seriously, you okay?" She asks, and Jennie finally looks up at her.

"No. I hate being locked up here, I'm going crazy." She complains, and her colleague laughs softly.

"Wouldn't have happened if you arrived here on time," She states and the brunette shakes her head. "And you wouldn't have been late if you didn't drink last night. Seriously Jen, you look like you're dying."

"Well I _am_. But he's been looking for an excuse to annoy me forever, even if I wasn't late he would've found something else." She sighs, "Seriously what more do I need to do to prove him that I'm good at my job? I don't get why he hates me so much,"

Jisoo doesn't answer immediately, only gives her a sympathetic smile. Jennie knows the raven haired girl goes through the same thing, anyway. Their captain clearly has issues with women, he'd much rather assign complicated and interesting cases to the male detectives, no matter how bad they were. Jennie felt like she had to prove herself over and over again to get slight recognition from him.

"Okay, I know how to cheer you up," Jisoo says after a while, "I heard the lieutenant on the phone, there's been a weird murder near here," She continues, and the brunette perks up, intrigued.

"Tell me more?"

"They found the body last night, at least a week old or so, but they're waiting for the forensic's report. There's no trace of fight, or anything that indicates murder, but he had a hand bound to a chair, so it's quite weird"

Jennie nods, slowly. "Who's in charge of that case?"

"Uh... Mark, I think."

"Mark?!" Jennie exclaims, "He sucks, come on! I've worked with him twice, had to do all the job because this idiot is fucking blind," She sighs. "This is so unfair,"

Jisoo only laughs, "Well if he does suck maybe you'll be able to get the case from him, the captain's serious about this, he won't let a murderer run free."

"Yeah, I hope so," Jennie mumbles.

Jisoo opens her mouth, about to answer, but she's quickly cut off by a shout from behind them,

"KIM," The girl immediately recognizes her captain's voice and turn around reluctantly, "In my office now," He orders before getting back inside.

Jennie looks at Jisoo with an eyebrow raised, "Me or you?"

"He looked your way," Jisoo chuckles, probably feeling relieved.

" _Fuck. Me._ "

"No thanks Jennifer, I'm married,"

"Oh, shut up." Jennie laughs softly at her friend before making her way to her boss' office, almost sulking. It doesn't sound good at all.

At least talking with Jisoo put her in a better mood, but she has a feeling he's about to ruin that.

"You wanted to talk to me, Captain?" She asks as she makes her way inside, closing the door behind her. He doesn't look up from his desk, only acknowledges her presence with a nod.

"Sit," He just says, and the girl does as told. Did she do something wrong?

When she's settled in front of him, he finally looks up, meeting her gaze with a sly smile on his face. "Had fun?" He asks.

That was a rhetoric question, obviously.

"I wouldn't say so," She answers, her voice small. He's still her boss, as much as she wants to punch him in the face, she has to respect him.

He leans on his desk, closer to her, his face getting more stern, "You're a great detective, Kim. You should be more serious about your job, I can't have you coming to work late every single day." He says, his tone cold, and she shakes her head slightly.

This was the first time in six months she arrived late.

"Yes, I know, I'm very sorry, but-"

"Listen." She stops talking immediately, "Someone called earlier, there's been a burglary in Gangnam." He sighs, looking at her with his gaze cold, and Jennie just stares blankly at him, waiting for him to say more. "You have the victim to interrogate, scene to visit, I can send you now. Think you can handle it? Or I can't put my trust in you?"

She fights a smile at this. A burglary? Obviously she can. And it is less boring than paperwork, at least. She can't help but think that she's really his last choice for this though, or he would've sent another detective. She just shrug the thought off, at least she has something to keep herself occupied, to prevent herself from drifting off to the the darkest corners of her mind.

"When I ask something I expect an answer, Kim." He says after a few seconds, a frown on his face "I don't want you to mess up, I can just ask detective Son, I'm sure he'll solve the case quicker," He adds with a chuckle, and Jennie shakes her head.

 _Son_?! He's the worst. Even Mark is better she thinks, and she's pretty sure her captain knows that.

She takes a deep breath,

"No, I'll do it" Jennie says, her head low. Her job is more important than her pride. "I won't disappoint you, sir. I promise."

"Good," He grins, and the brunette wants nothing more than to scream at him. He always does that, always makes her feel like she's the bad person. "I really hope you won't, Kim. You're dismissed."

Jennie only nods at him before getting up and leaving the room. At least she has something to do now, something interesting at that. Part of her still hopes that the burglary is hiding something more.

She can't wait to solve the case.


	2. Chapter one

**Jennie**

Jennie looked around her, inspecting every single detail. She had been there for ten minutes already, a few cops were with her to inspect the scene. From what she knew, someone had broken into the apartment while the owner was asleep, stolen a few items (that were worth more than the brunette's salary), and had tried breaking into his safe too, to no avail, before running away through the front door.

There seemed to be no clues at all, the thief had left no trace of their visit. Even the CCTV cameras that the owner of the apartment had installed didn't record anything at all, which made Jennie sigh. This might be more complicated than she had thought at first.

There was one thing left to do, talk to the victim. He had already told her partner a few things, but she had to know more. She looked for him around the room before finding him, sitting in his dining room, sulking, as if he had lost someone. Jennie scoffed at the sight. She hated rich people.

She slowly made her way to him, putting on a sympathetic face. She had to be gentle, it was her job.

"Alright, sir…" She started and he immediately looked up,

"Yang." He finished for her and Jennie smiled politely,

"Yang," She nodded, "Can I ask you a few questions?" She asked, to which he only nodded. Jennie didn't wait a second more before sitting down in front of him, ready to start. "Do you remember anything at all from last night? What you were doing, if you were with someone, did you leave your apartment at all?" She already knew what he would answer, but tried anyway.

The man only shook his head, "I already told your colleague, I don't remember a thing," He sighed, clearly annoyed.

"I know," Jennie answered, her voice soft, "But I really need you to try… What's the last thing you remember doing?"

"I, uh…" He paused for a few seconds, furrowing his eyebrows, "I worked all day long, came home at the same time as almost every day, around eight," Jennie nodded, taking note of everything he said. "Then I went out to a bar near here, I always go there after long days at work. I was waiting for uh, a woman I had a date with." He sounded hesitant, which Jennie immediately noticed.

"Did she come?"

"I don't remember." His voice was stern. "After that, I just remember waking up this morning with a headache, in my bed, the front door was open and the thief already stole my stuff, like I told you."

She shook her head, there was something off, something he wasn't telling her. "Try to focus, surely you can remember if your date came," Jennie tried to insist. The man had most probably been drugged, or highly intoxicated at least, but there was no way his very last memory was waiting for someone in a bar.

"This feels like you're interrogating me, do I need the remind you I'm the victim here?!" He exclaimed, glaring at the brunette who widened her eyes in disbelief.

"Of course not, I'm just doing my job," She explained calmly. "The woman you were waiting for, who was she, how did you meet her? Was it your first date?" She tried to change the subject quickly, knowing not to annoy this kind of person. She had to solve the case quickly, and she had to have the victim on her side for that.

He sighed deeply before looking into her eyes, "I didn't know her before, I met her… um… On a dating app," He gulped, diverting his gaze.

He was lying.

"What's her name? Do you still have her info?" She asked, deciding to put that aside for now. "We have to contact her, she's one of our lead suspect now."

"I don't." His response came quickly, too quickly almost, and Jennie raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know anything about her?"

Jennie couldn't believe that. He at least had to know a name or a nickname, something. Then again, dating apps were full of catfishes, so it probably didn't have any value for them.

"No. It was a, uh, blind dating thing." He explained, clearly not happy to talk about it with the detective.

"So she knew nothing about you either?"

He froze for a few second before shaking his head sideways.

The brunette took a deep breath, "I need you to be honest with me if you want me to solve the case" She explained calmly, trying to contain her anger. A blind dating app, for a man like him? Jennie was good at analyzing people, it was part of her job after all, and men like him definitely were the kind to show off their wealth. He was obviously lying, or it didn't make any sense at all. "Do you really know nothing about her _at all_?"

He let out an annoyed sigh at the detective's words, "I don't, why would I lie? I mean, you're a detective, just do your job- I don't know there must be some fingerprints or whatever, or do you need me to do it for you?" He said, rolling his eyes, "Seriously, you're looking for the wrong person, someone must be after me, not some random girl I was supposed to date." Jennie scoffed at that, biting her tongue to prevent something she'd regret from slipping out. Was he seriously that stupid?

Bastard.

They already took his phone anyway, she'd check if he was saying the truth later. If they were lucky enough they'd be able to trace the phone of the woman he was supposed to meet with, or whoever that person was. As she thought before, catfishes were frequent, the guy might just have been scammed. There was no point in asking more question for now, anyway.

"Thank you for your collaboration, sir." She sighed, getting up to join her colleagues who were still looking for more clues.

She hadn't find any before interrogating the man. Her colleagues didn't seem to have made much more progress, whoever did it was definitely someone experienced. Only the lock on the door had been damaged and indicated that someone had broken inside. Noticing that none of her men were on it, she made her way to the door, inspecting it closer.

The lock system was pretty complex, which made sense for a building like this, only the wealthiest people in town must be living there, the security had to be enforced.

Wasn't enough to stop that person, though.

She crouched down, analyzing the lock from up close. There were a few scratches, barely visible, that might have been there for some time already. Nothing else noticeable beside that. The only way to know that the lock was broken was to actually try to lock the door, the thief must've broken it by trying to open it with a key, or any kind of tool.

She opened the door fully, analyzing the other side of the door. Again, nothing noticeable.

Nothing…

Jennie frowned. Nothing, nothing at all, not even the scratches she noticed on the other side. She didn't think much about it before, maybe the owner was just not so patient and had slightly damaged the outside of his lock with his key by trying to open it quickly, out of frustration or whatever. But this side was perfectly neat, when it should've been the most damaged one, according to her logic. While would he struggle to open the door from the inside the most?

This could only mean one thing.

Jennie couldn't hold back her smirk, it was too easy, and only confirmed her previous theory. She took a few pictures of the door, this might be their only clue, as they didn't seem to have found any fingerprint anywhere.

All she needed now was a name, or a face at the very least, which the victim didn't seem so willing to give. She sighed at this, so close, yet so far away. She needed to try a different approach with him later if they didn't find anything on his phone. Maybe she'd learn more at the bar, there must have been some witnesses.

After a while, the detective had finished looking around the apartment, and the forensic seemed to be done with their job as well. It was already quite late as the sun had set, and Jennie couldn't wait to get home, clear her head a little to be able to put the pieces together. If her theory was correct and she was lucky enough, the case would be solved by tomorrow. She couldn't wait for the captain to know that.

She made her way to the victim, her fake smile back on, before

"I'll make sure to find the thief quickly, mister Yang." She said, trying to sound as gentle as possible, before stretching her hand out for him to shake.

"I hope so," He answered nonchalantly.

Jennie only smiled in response, pushing her annoyance at the back of her head. She looked down at their joined hands briefly, before her gaze locked on something odd.

He had red marks all around his wrist. Had he been tried up?

Before she could do anything, the man seemed to have noticed that her gaze had lingered down a little too long and he retreated his hand.

"Have a good evening, detective." His voice was much colder than before, and Jennie decided not to think much about it. It was obviously a private matter, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know anyway.

She nodded at him once last time before leaving the apartment, sighing in relief as soon as she stepped outside and the cold air hit her face.

She had a feeling the night would be long.

Only she didn't know the next few days would be much, much worse.

**Chaeyoung**

"Chaeng, Hey," The brunette snapped her fingers in front of the girl, a brief chuckle leaving her lips as Chaeyoung blinked a few times before focusing back on her. "You keep on dozing off, what's up?"

"I'm sorry, Wendy." The raven haired girl gave her a gentle smile. "Work's been stressful, I'm just tired," She shrugged. "But go on, you were saying something about… uh, dogs?"

At that, Wendy let out a loud laugh, startling her friend. "Oh, Chaeyoung, you should really go back home now. We'll just go out again later,"

"No, no, no" Chaeyoung shook her head, "We barely ever meet- It's been so long since we went out together and I don't know when I'll be able to have a free evening again, so…" She trailed. "Just start over, I'm all ears now." She said, and her friend only smiled.

"No, it's okay, it was nothing interesting really. I was just telling you about the last guy I dated, but I realize now I might've been ranting a little," She said, chuckling awkwardly.

"Tell me it at least had something to do with a dog," Chaeyoung said, trying to lighten the mood, which seemed to have worked as Wendy started laughing again.

"I mean, I did say he had a dog. But I can't believe that's the only thing you picked out," She said and Chaeyoung shook her head, fighting a smile. "But come on, you haven't told me about you at all, it's been a while since you went out with anybody, right?"

The raven haired girl sighed, "I guess, I can't seem to find someone good for me," She said, her voice low as the atmosphere had grown more serious again. Her gaze dropped to her knees as she avoided her friend's eyes. "Or maybe I just don't have the time to look for one, work really does take a lot of my time."

"Park Chaeyoung, look at me," Her friend ordered, and the girl immediately obeyed. Wendy wasn't an intimidating or bossy person at all, but when she tried, Chaeyoung wasn't one to try and mess with her. "You have to take time for yourself, you know that, right?"

"I can't Wan," She started slowly. She had her reasons. "The flower shop is doing so well these days, I don't want to ruin that."

They both stayed silent for a few seconds, Wendy furrowed her eyebrows as if she was in deep reflexion, before her lips curled up into a smirk. "Then take advantage of that,"

"Huh?"

"I mean… Come on, there must be plenty of handsome guys who come to your shop, surely a bit of seduction won't hurt, just show off your cleavage more, that's all men need" She grinned devilishly, and Chaeyoung held back a laugh, internally cringing at her friend's words.

"Wendy, I'm not sure I can seduce men who come to buy roses for their partners, or widowers who buy flower to put on their deceased wives graves, and they're like ninety percent of my customers." She said, "Well… never mind, I could seduce them, definitely, just not sure that I want to." She added.

"You're no fun," Her friend answered, not hiding her disappointment at all.

"Trust me, I can be." Chaeyoung chuckled a little, "Just not for that." She added, before moving on to another topic, not so fond of talking about the failure that was her love life.

Almost an hour later, both of the girl had decided to call it quits for that night, clearly too exhausted to stay longer, or they would've fallen asleep in the overcrowded restaurant. The dark haired girl had barely slept at all the night before, so she deserved a good night of sleep, or some time alone at the very least.

Chaeyoung's apartment was quite far away, at least a forty minute walk if she was fast. But the then cold air and city noises somehow eased her, so she decided against riding a taxi, and started making her way home slowly, observing the busy streets as she did.

She had always loved to observe her surrounding, clearly more of the introverted type. It was almost funny, in a way. She looked at the people she walked across and tried to imagine what they were doing for a living or what their family were like, if they had one. She was pretty sure she could also tell if someone was a bad person or not just from the way they looked at her. She had developed that ability growing up.

Part of her wished she'd had it for longer, it might've made her life much easier.

She shook the thought off, though. There was no need in going back there. It was done.

As she kept on walking, not even halfway there yet, she saw a few police cars parked outside a big building, and raised an eyebrow at the sight.

They had been quick, this time.

She decided to ignore them, too exhausted to linger there. Maybe it wasn't too late to take a taxi or something, her legs were starting to hurt, and she had to stay in good shape for the day after. It was probably best.

Without slowing down her pace, she took out her phone from her back pocket, opening the familiar app on her phone and reserved a ride home.

As she kept on walking forward, her gaze directed to her phone instead of in front of her, she accidentally bumped into someone, and she immediately turned around to apologize.

Her eyes met those of another woman, probably around her age, though the few creases she had on her face, probably caused by exhaustion, definitely made her look a little older. Her hair were brown, tied up in a bun, and Chaeyoung immediately noticed the badge that was hanging around her neck. A cop.

"I'm so sorry," She breathed out, a sly smirk on her face, before turning around and rushing towards the place where her ride should already be.

The woman's eyes… She would definitely not forget them so soon. They held something so fierce, Chaeyoung almost felt like she should be worried.

She knew better than that, though. Maybe this could be fun.

**Jennie**

It was already two in the morning.

Jennie thought that she would be able to work better once home, maybe understand a few things, or notice an odd detail on the pictures they had taken that she had missed before. She often worked like that, somehow her mind seemed clearer during the night.

It was the only thing she could do to keep herself busy, anyway, and clearly, she wasn't exhausted enough to fall asleep anytime soon.

After nearly three hours working on the case, and not getting anything interesting out of it, she decided to take a break and poured herself a glass of wine. She made her way to the large windows and stared down at the city, trying not to let her thoughts get to her. Her apartment wasn't so bad,it was quite nice even, given her social class. It had a nice view of Seoul, especially at night. One of the last gift her parents left behind them.

But the place felt too big now that the brunette was alone again, which only reinforced her feeling of loneliness.

Jennie clutched her glass tightly, trying to focus on the view, but it didn't seem to work anymore. She almost called Jisoo, but decided against it at the last minute, figuring that she was probably busy with Lisa, and she didn't want to interrupt anything simply because she was incapable of dealing with her feelings.

Instead, the brunette poured herself another glass, something stronger this time. She wasn't sure what it was, didn't really care either, as long as it did a good job at drowning everything she was feeling.

She'd rather feel numb that feel the pain all over again.

Soon enough, she was on the floor, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, the now empty bottle of whatever discarded to her side. She felt like breathing was the hardest thing ever.

God, why was she like this?

Jennie's head was spinning, and she glanced down at her phone. She already had dialed the familiar phone number, all she had to do was to press call.

It was a terrible idea.

Jennie didn't really care.

She picked up her phone and let her fingers linger above the button, should she press down?

She shook her head, the answer was obvious, she shouldn't. She should just turn it off, take a shower and go to sleep to get ready for the next day.

That was the reasonable option, but the brunette was too drunk to be reasonable, and desperately needed to hear her voice again.

Jennie pressed call with her eyes shut as a chocked out sob left her mouth. It rang once, twice, and then the girl picked up.

"Jen?"

Her voice was still as soft, and Jennie couldn't hold back the single tear that left her eye. "Irene, hey," She chuckled lowly, not really knowing what to say.

This was a terrible idea.

"What- Are you drunk?"

Jennie could perfectly hear the hint of disappointment in her ex fiancée's voice, making her heart ache in the worst of ways. She thought after so many times she'd get used to it, but it hurt more every time.

"Maybe. Who cares?"

"I do," Irene said, sighing, and Jennie started laughing on the phone.

"No, you don't."

She didn't argue, this time. The brunette didn't expect her to anyway. There was no point in lying.

"Why did you call me?"

Jennie was asking herself the same question. What was she even supposed to answer?

"I miss you." That wasn't a lie, though sober Jennie would never admit it. "Didn't expect you to answer your phone this late."

"Well, I did." Irene said, and the younger girl could perfectly picture the frown on her face when she said those words, "It's been a month, Jennie. It's time you move on."

Jennie scoffed. A month, and she was supposed to have moved on already? "We've been together for six years, hyun, how the fuck do you want me to move on?" This time, Jennie didn't try to hide the anger in her voice. There was no point, anyway.

"I don't know," The brunette could hear her take a deep breath on the other side of the phone, "I don't know, Jen, okay? But definitely not by calling me wasted in the middle of the night." There was a slight pause, during which Jennie didn't dare say a word. "This is exactly why I ended things between us," Said Irene, and the brunette finally let her tears flow, not being able to hold them back anymore.

It stung.

"Well fuck you," She spat, "You promised me you'd never give up on me, what happened to that, huh?"

"I barely even saw you anymore! You chose work over me, now deal with it," She sighed, "We shouldn't even be having this conversation again, I told you everything I needed."

"No, Irene, don't you dare hang up," Jennie threatened, her voice much colder now, "Don't you dare leave again."

"Or what, huh?" She said, "You're drunk, and I'm tired. You should just go to sleep, and so will-"

_"Hyun? Babe? It's late,"_

Jennie was wasted. There was no doubt in that. But she definitely heard a voice call out Irene's name, and she was pretty sure it wasn't hers.

The low sigh that left her ex's mouth was only a confirmation.

"Are you with someone?" The brunette asked, her tone laced with bitterness.

"This is none of your business, Jen. Go to sleep."

She was already with someone else?! Jennie dedicated six year of her life to Irene, and she replaced her within a month?

"Irene, I-"

"Goodnight."

Before the brunette could answer anything, Irene hung up, breaking Jennie's heart even more.

She shouldn't be dealing with this. She should be focusing on work, why was she putting herself through all the pain again? She knew there was no point.

She wished she could go back in the past, make things different. But it was impossible, and Jennie was left alone in her empty apartment with her heart shattered in pieces, while the girl who she thought was the love of her life was sleeping in someone else's arms.

God, it hurt.


	3. Chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// sexual assault (verbal, not physical, but still)   
> (it happens towards the ending, I'll put a warning before that part if you guys want to skip it)

**Jennie**

"God, you look awful,"

"Thanks, Jisoo," Jennie answered, sighing. She was used to her friend being like this, she knew she meant no harm at all and she would've snapped back any other time, but the brunette was way too exhausted that day, which Jisoo quickly seemed to notice.

The black haired girl sat down on the chair next to her desk, like she always did, before speaking up again. "Are you alright?" Her voice was laced with concern, making Jennie feel incredibly bad. She hated when people were pitying her, she clearly preferred the teasing.

"Yup, just tired," She answered with a small smile on her lips, trying to just shrug it off.

Her conversation with Irene the night before had completely drained her.

She hoped that the alcohol would've made her forget everything by the time she'd wake up, it obviously did not. Jennie barely slept at all, replaying the conversation in her head over and over again until her alarm ringed, reminding her that she had to wake up and face the day, despite her own issues.

Not standing staying in her apartment for any longer, Jennie had decided to come to work sooner, at least her boss wouldn't annoy her about her punctuality, and work might help clear her mind.

"Don't bullshit me, Jen, I know you" Jisoo said, and Jennie lowered her gaze to her feet, not daring to look into her friend's eyes anymore, "You know I'm here if you need to talk, right?"

"And I don't." She stated, her voice low, "I'm really not in the mood now Jisoo, please."

Her friend sighed, "Alright, I'll leave you alone then… You know where to find me if you change your mind," She said, and the brunette nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

Jisoo gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before leaving her alone, and Jennie buried her head in her arms. She needed to stop thinking about it, and focus on work, or she'd go insane.

She had a busy day ahead of her anyway, no time for anything else.

Barely a few minutes later, Jennie noticed her partner that had just arrived in the office in the corner of her eyes and her lips curled into a faint smile. The day could finally start. She got up and made her way to his desk, hoping that he had made more progress than she had.

She doubted it, to be completely honest.

As soon as he noticed her, he gave her a gentle smile and gestured to the chair in front of him for her to sit there.

Jinyoung, her partner for this case, was one of the few people she could stand there. He was clearly not the best detective, nor the brightest, but at least he wasn't another overconfident misogynist asshole, so Jennie figured it was okay, she could work with it. She was pretty glad she was assigned head detective though. Their captain might hate her and make it known but he wasn't stupid, he knew Jennie wasn't a bad detective, no matter how bad he wished she was.

"So, got anything?" She asked him as soon as she was settled, deciding not to waste time, and the detective shook his head.

"No, Nothing. It's like the thief's some kind of ghost, he didn't leave anything behind." He said, already sounding defeated, "I don't want to be pessimistic but if the forensic don't have anything I doubt we'll find him."

"Or _her_ ," Jennie answered, a frown on her face, "And we still have many things to do, I already called the owner of the bar he went to, they do have CCTV cameras but they were all out that night, so that's an interesting lead, I'm sure we can find witnesses," She explained and the detective nodded slowly.

"I hope you're right, Kim," He sighed, "But it doesn't explain how he- or she," He corrected himself, "-broke into his apartment, nor how they managed to leave no trace at all…"

She took a deep breath. She knew they had no real lead so far, but they had just started working on it. Jennie already had a few theories, one of them she was really confident about.

It was a complicated case, definitely, how could someone manage to steal a few incredibly expensive items without leaving anything behind them? It was mind wrecking, but the brunette was really far from declaring herself defeated.

"I guess we are dealing with someone experienced," She answered him after a few seconds, shrugging, "If my theory's correct-"

Before she could finish her sentence, her phone started ringing, cutting her off. She took it out of her pocket with a grunt as her partner watched her with an amused smile, before breaking into a wide grin seeing the name that flashed on the screen.

"It's the forensic," She told Jinyoung before answering the call, and he leaned froward, obviously curious about what they had to say too.

Though, as the person on the other side of the phone kept on talking, her smile faded.

_There was no way._

"What's up?" Jinyoung asked her as soon as she hanged up, and she furrowed her eyebrows.

"They have nothing." She answered, slumping back down on her chair.

"What? What do you mean nothing?"

She wasn't expecting a lot, but definitely not that.

"The few stuff we found only have Yang's DNA on it, but- I was expecting this, it's just…" Jennie sighed, "His phone, he never downloaded any dating app or whatever, he lied to us for some reason."

"So… He wasn't really robbed?" Jinyoung asked her and she shrugged.

She had no idea, why would he lie about that? Was he even really expecting someone that evening, or was that a lie too?

"Don't know, I guess we have to interrogate him again," The brunette said as a frustrated sigh left her mouth, "Maybe he just has another phone, that wouldn't be surprising for someone like him."

"I guess," Jinyoung answered, his voice smaller already, "But I'm starting to think the thief really is a ghost." He stated and Jennie chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe."

There had to be something she missed, she hoped she'd find a new lead quickly.

***

Jennie's hopes quickly faded.

It was already six in the evening, they had spent the day exploring every possibilities, had analyzed the pictures they took over and over again, but nothing new came up, and Jennie could feel her head hurting already. How was that even possible?

One of their last hope was Yang, maybe he hadn't really lied to them, or was just too embarrassed to say the whole truth. The detective knew he was suspicious from the start, though she thought it was rather out of arrogance, not that he might actually be hiding something from them purposely. But what was it and why keeping it from them?

She had called him earlier that day and he agreed to talk to the detectives once more, but Jennie didn't learn anything useful. He had stayed vague about the dating issue, stating that it was a private matter and had absolutely nothing to do with the case, despite Jennie's pleas about it.

The detective knew it couldn't be a coincidence, the only suspect they had was the mysterious woman he was supposed to meet that evening, but with no name and no face, or not even any evidence of her existence, it was a dead end.

The most reasonable lead they had then was that Yang had lied to them all along about the burglary. Insurance frauds were pretty common, the man might've just managed to hide the so-called stolen items and proceeded to call the police after in hope of earning some money from it.

But then again, it didn't really make sense. If he had truly done that, then why not make it more obvious? Jennie knew if it was her she would have at least broken a thing or two to make the whole burglary act more believable, definitely not just hide the items, that was way too suspicious.

What was she missing?

The detective's last hope for that day was the bar Yang allegedly went to, maybe she could find some witnesses there, if he didn't lie that was.

If he really came to that place often, then the bartended would most likely recognize him, and maybe the woman he was supposedly waiting for did show up that evening, then the brunette's theory was still plausible.

With one last deep sigh, she opened the doors of the bar.

Jinyoung had stayed at the police station, which Jennie didn't mind, she preferred working alone anyway, and her partner hadn't really been any help so far.

God, she hoped she was right. She didn't know what she'd do if she found nothing there.

The place was almost empty, which made sense as it was still pretty early. The few people who were already there seemed rather prosperous, all wearing expensive suits, even the way there were talking screamed wealth.

Jennie tried to hide her uneasiness, she was in no way poor, but she could feel she didn't belong there at all. Her badge was hidden inside her blouse, so no one could know she was a cop, which made her feel somewhat better. She knew not many people where fond of them, and, well. She definitely got it.

Forcing a smile on her lips, she made her way to the counter and sat there, trying to ignore the bad feeling she had in the back of her head. Soon enough, the bartender noticed her presence and made his way to her quickly, slightly bowing when he was close enough. "Good evening, may I take your order?" He asked and Jennie nodded.

She definitely shouldn't drink, she was still on duty, but what kind of woman went to a bar alone to order water? She was trying to stay undercover and a drink wouldn't hurt, maybe it might even help her calm down a bit.

"I'll have a dry martini, please." She asked and he immediately got to work, making the woman smile. It had been a while since she had drunk anything that wasn't cheap alcohol, she thought she deserved it after all that happened.

A minute later, the bartender went back to her with her drink and she gave her a polite smile, speaking up before he'd go away.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," He raised an eyebrow, "How can I help you?"

Jennie leaned forward on the counter, "Do you know Mr Yang? He come here pretty often," She asked and the man tilted his head to the side.

"I do," He only answered, and Jennie smiled. At least that wasn't a lie, she was getting somewhere.

"Was he here two days ago? And did he have company?" The detective asked, which seemed to take him aback.

"I'm afraid I can't help you, I'm sorry, but we respect our clients' privacy" He stated, and Jennie's lips curled into a small, amused smile.

She looked around quickly, making sure that no one was looking at them, before getting out her badge and showing it to him, "I think you can help me, actually, though I respect your ethic." She started, "Was he here last night, and was he alone?" She repeated, and this time the man nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a detective," He chuckled awkwardly, "He was indeed there, I don't remember if he was with someone, though." He said, and Jennie nodded.

Well, at least that wasn't a no.

"Does he often bring women here? Or one woman in particular, perhaps?"

The bartender shrugged, "I'm sorry, we have a lot of clients, it's hard to keep track." He started, "I do remember seeing him talking to some women some evenings, so I doubt he's in a relationship if that's what you're curious about, but I might be wrong." He added and Jennie nodded.

Well, great. This felt like another dead end.

"Alright then, thank you for your help."

"No problems," He smiled at her before turning around and making his way to another client.

Jennie sighed, there was still some hope, he wasn't the only person working there and there had to be other clients who saw Yang that evening, but still, the detective felt like she was getting nowhere. The more time she spent on the case, the further she felt like they were from finding the truth. Maybe Jinyoung was right, after all, the thief might as well be a ghost.

She picked up her drink and started sipping on it slowly, appreciating the warm feeling the alcohol brought her.

"A martini at six in the evening? Isn't that a bit early?" She heard a feminine voice say, followed by a chuckle, and Jennie immediately turned around at the sound.

A woman was standing in front of her. She was wearing heels, but the detective could tell she was much taller than her anyway, intimidating her a bit. The woman had long, blonde hair and was wearing a black suit with a skirt a little too short for it to be considered a work attire. It was obvious she wanted to draw attention on her just from the way she was standing, yet everything about her screamed elegance and luxury, making the brunette throat go dry. She felt so small beside her.

Though, that wasn't what held the brunette's attention. There was something about her eyes… They felt so familiar, Jennie swore she saw them before, but couldn't remember where or when.

She decided to just shrug it off, it probably didn't matter.

"There's no such thing as a _right_ hour to drink a martini," Jennie answered, a cocky smile plastered on her face, and the woman only laughed, taking a sit next to the brunette.

"I guess you're right,"

Both of the women stayed silent for a few seconds, Jennie hoped it would stay that way. She wasn't fond of talking to strangers, or just talking altogether.

But she didn't seem to notice that.

"I never saw you here before." The woman stated, looking in the distance.

So she came there often? Jennie couldn't hold back her smile, maybe she could learn something interesting, after all.

"It's the first time I come, a colleague told me it was nice." Jennie said, "Maybe you know him?"

The woman turned around, looking back at the brunette with a smile, "Maybe so, who is he?"

Jennie felt goosebumps erupt on her skin at the woman's voice. There was something so sultry about her, but her voice was laced with something so… dark?

The detective had a weird feeling about her, something felt odd, and not in a good way. Jennie was used to seeing criminals and genuinely bad or evil people, and there was definitely something off with that girl.

"Yang Sung-min" Jennie said, and the woman raised an eyebrow, looking up for a few seconds as if she was in deep reflexion.

"Doesn't remind me of anyone," She finally answered, and Jennie could barely hide her disappointment. "What does he look like?"

"Huh… Pretty tall, black hair, around forty," She sighed and the blonde laughed. It was useless, he looked like most men here, and pulling out a picture of him would be suspicious.

"Yeah, that sure helps." She answered with an amused smile. "But anyway, I'm glad he brought you here, it's nice to have some… feminine company." She stated, staring intensively into Jennie's eyes, and the detective could barely hold back a shudder at this.

She felt so vulnerable under her gaze.

"Yeah, it is," Jennie gulped.

"Well, I hope I'll see you around more often. It was nice meeting you," She said as she got up, and Jennie could only nod, the words stuck in her throat.

God, why was she feeling so uneasy?

Before Jennie knew it, she was alone again, the girl had completely vanished from the place. Jennie tried to shrug of the weird feeling that remained in the back of her mind, she still had some people to interrogate, and a case to solve, no time for distraction.

Shaking her head, she finished her drink and got up, she'd get to the bottom of it. Jennie Kim was not one to give up so easily.

**/!\ tw**

**Chaeyoung**

Rosé ran her hand through her freshly bleached hair, sighing as she waited for her Uber to come.

She wasn't fond of warm weather, liking fresh temperatures much more, but that evening was definitely too cold for her, and she was exhausted after spending such a long day at work. She couldn't wait to get home, pour herself a glass of wine and look at another bad romcom on TV. She felt like she hadn't had any time to relax in forever and couldn't wait to get home, cuddled up in a comfortable blanket.

At least she had a somewhat fun time earlier, and was able to go back to the flower shop quickly to grab her favorite item and bring it home with her. Well, that was if her ride ever came to bring her there, which didn't seem so likely to happen.

She checked the time on her phone, trying to distract herself from the cold, until a hoarse voice startled her, almost making her drop her phone on the ground.

She cursed under her breath, turning around to face the man who surprised her with a frown on her face.

"What the fuck is your problem?" She hissed, too tired to deal with anyone.

The intruder, a middle aged man with grayish hair, raised an eyebrow in fake disbelief. "Wow, hey there cutie, calm down, I just said hi," He was slurring the words, and Chaeyoung could clearly recognize the smell of alcohol. Hell, it wasn't even eight yet and that man was already drunk.

She decided to ignore him, not wanting to get in any kind of shitty situation. She was way too exhausted for that. She clutched her purse tightly, looking at the street in front of her, hoping that he would leave soon.

She should've known better, really.

"I live near, y'know, you could come get a drink with me, have some fun," He chuckled, and Chaeyoung could feel that he had gotten even closer to her. She wanted to throw up.

"I'm not interested." She kept her gaze focused on the buildings before her, her voice colder than ice.

"Come on, with a skirt like that," An evil laugh escaped his lips, making the girl shudder, "Of course you're interested, _whore_ ,"

Chaeyoung felt a skin crawl at the last word, the last bit of her sanity leaving her body.

That was too much.

She stepped back as she glared at the man who still had a sick smirk on his lips. She wanted nothing more than to punch it off.

She knew better than to do that, though.

Her lips curled up into a slight smirk as she blinked a few time. He was wearing an expensive looking suit and a watch that had to cost at least a few thousands dollars.

She knew what to do, screw her peaceful evening, he had ruined it anyway.

"You know what, I think I changed my mind, I really want a drink or something right now," She said, her voice lower, and the man chuckled.

She couldn't wait to make him pay for messing with her.


	4. chapter three

**Jennie**

Jennie was exhausted. She hadn't got any sleep in a long time. As usual, her mind was clouded by darkness, and the rare moments she had managed to fall asleep were often cut short by nightmares. More than the lack of sleep, she was mentally drained. The weight of her issues, work- _everything,_ really- was getting too much for her, and she felt like she had no strength anymore, like she was slowly dying, in a way.

Irene used to be there during her most difficult times, used to hold her, keep her safe until the dark thoughts disappeared. Eventually, it must've got too much for her to handle, and even if Jennie knew deep down that it wasn't really her own fault, she couldn't help but blame herself for the loss of her lover.

She should've tried to be better, hide her shadow from her.

Despite everything, Jennie knew she had to stay strong, her job required it, and it was the only part of her life that wasn't completely in shambles ( _yet_ ). She couldn't allow herself to sink deeper, no matter how tempting it was, she had to focus on her job, even if it meant shoving her issues in the back of her head until it eventually got too much. Lives were potentially at stake. She was going to do some good for the world, even if she couldn't do that for herself.

The brunette let out a deep sigh as Jinyoung came to sit beside her, two cups of coffee in his hands, "Here, take this, you look like you need it." He said and Jennie silently thanked him before forcing herself to take a sip. She felt sick. The brunette hadn't eaten anything since the day before, and she knew she needed to regain a bit of strength. The coffee would do, for now.

"Got anything new?" She tiredly asked her partner, the latter gave her a small smile in return.

"Just got the report about the stolen items," He stated as he handed her a file and Jennie hummed, prompting him to continue, "All of them are quite expensive, though there's no real pattern. They stole some ancient greek vase, a traditional Japanese sculpture and some Korean modern artist's painting. All of them are pretty small, easy to carry, and since Yang has other greek or whatever else items I doubt our burglar is a collector, or they would've taken those too. They were probably just after the money."

Jennie nodded, a frown of her face as she took in all the information. A collector would've been easier to track than a random person who wanted money, but at least it meant that they would try to sell them, so maybe they still had a chance to find the stolen pieces, and even the thief too. Her hopes weren't so high, though.

The detective brought her hands up to massage her temples, her head was starting to ache badly.

"What about you, how did your visit at the bar go?" Jinyoung asked.

"Not so well. Some people do remember seeing Yang that night, only one client think he saw him with a woman. Dark haired, wore a black dress. He didn't remember anything else." She sighed.

"Well… At least we know Yang didn't lie about that, I guess."

"I don't get him though," Jennie furrowed her eyebrow, looking up at her partner, "Why is he hiding some stuff from us? Why fake a blind dating app or whatever when we know that woman might be the thief? He doesn't make the job easy for us."

"Maybe he's more embarrassed than he misses his vase," Jinyoung chuckled and Jennie couldn't help but join him. There was nothing really funny about the situation, the brunette blamed it on her nerves. They both knew this was getting nowhere. "Whatever, it's on him if we can't get him his things back anyway."

"Don't say that," Jennie said, regaining her serious, professional state, "I don't care about him or his fucking art pieces, but we have to solve this case."

"Why though? I mean, we're already doing everything we can, and a lot of cases like this end up unsolved, it's not a big deal if we tried."

"It is."

Jennie knew she couldn't afford failing, not when her captain was looking for any reason possible to bring her down, make her feel worthless. If she started messing up her job he'd get rid of her without a second thought, and Jennie would end up with nothing at all.

She wouldn't survive that.

Her head started spinning, the headache growing too strong to ignore anymore, and she felt her breathing getting shallow. Why wasn't she able to figure this case out ?!

_God, get yourself together Kim._

"You okay?" Her partner asked, voice laced with concern, and the brunette nodded before excusing herself. She needed to get out of there. She couldn't breath.

She quickly made her way up to the rooftop, and as soon as she was out, she collapsed on her knees, feeling her exhaustion finally get to her. She was a mess, feeling the pain getting too intense.

She used to be so good at holding everything back, what happened?

Jennie sat against the wall, trying to focus on evening her breathing, regain a normal state. She couldn't allow herself to be so weak in her workplace. She had to forget about everything, work on herself, or she didn't know how long she'd manage to keep on holding on.

After a few minutes, she managed to regain a somewhat acceptable state. She still felt awful on the inside, but at least her coworkers wouldn't know. The worst thing that could happen to her was to appear weak in front of them. Jennie despised more than anything feeling vulnerable.

She made her way back inside reluctantly, getting ready to get back to work. When she got in, though, instead of finding her partner sitting in front of his desk, working, like she expected him to, she saw him talking to another detective, along with Jisoo and Mark. Tilting her head to her side in confusion, she joined them, hoping they wouldn't comment on her sudden disappearance.

They all had frowns on their faces, Mark was livid. What happened ?

"Oh, hey Jen," Jisoo greeted her as soon as she noticed her, and Jennie only nodded at her friend.

"Are you feeling better?" Jinyoung asked and she gave him a small smile,

"Yeah, sorry about that by the way. What's up?" She quickly changed the topic, not wanting the focus to be on her, and her partner glanced at Mark quickly before looking back at her.

"They found another body this morning, same exact setting than the one Lee was working on a few days ago, one hand bonded to a table or something, and it looks like he's been poisoned."

Jennie furrowed her eyebrows at that, "Didn't you say the last one was a suicide?"

Mark looked away at that, and Jinyoung nodded, his smile fading. "Yeah, he did. I mean I don't know the details, but from the report, absolutely nothing indicates murder, so…"

"He took the pill himself." Mark sighed, "We have evidence of that, I-"

"Maybe he was forced to do it, though?" Jisoo intervened, and Mark shook his head.

"It makes no sense… There's absolutely no trace of fight, not even one wound on the victim, the first one at least has no known enemy, it's so weird…"

"It can't be a coincidence though, I mean one man killing himself with a hand tied somewhere is weird enough, but two ? There's something fishy." The other detective -Jennie couldn't remember his name- added, and they all nodded.

It was odd, really. Jennie knew something was off, and her mind immediately went back to her own case, what was up with ghost criminals suddenly?

"So what are you going to do?" Jennie asked and Mark shook his head.

"We're taking this case too, since they're most probably linked, but honestly I don't know where this is going. I hope we can find more on the crime scene, we're going there now," He sighed.

Before Jennie could answer anything, she felt a hand on her shoulder and immediately turned around, her heart missing a beat.

She let out a shaky breath at the sight of her captain's cold gaze on her, his eyebrows scrunched down in a frown, as usual. Jennie wondered if she ever saw this man smile.

All of the detectives had gone silent.

"I don't recall allowing any of you to chat during your work hours," He stated, his tone colder than ice. Even though he was talking to all of them, his gaze remained focused on Jennie, and she could barely hold back a shudder at this.

"We're sorry, sir, I-"

"Kim," He cut Jinyoung off, not acknowledging him, glaring at the brunette, "In my office, I need to talk to you now."

Jennie gulped, nodding slowly before making her way there. She felt too powerless to argue, and really didn't want him to scold her in front of her colleagues. She knew what he was about to tell her, and would rather save herself from the humiliation.

This was really not her day.

Or, well, week. Month maybe.

Jennie was starting to lose any hope of seeing better days.

**Chaeyoung**

Chaeyoung yawned for what felt like the hundredth time that day, struggling to keep on listening to her customer as he was describing what he wanted for his wife's birthday. She had an awful night and felt like she could fall asleep at any time, but tried hard to keep her eyes opened. She'd probably close the shop earlier that day.

When the man had finished talking, she gave him a small nod as an answer, and told him he'd get his bouquet the following day, despite not being sure she even remembered a thing he said.

Whatever, she'd improvise, he would like it anyway.

When he finally left, she allowed a low sigh to leave her mouth and slumped down in her chair, making Yeri, her apprentice, chuckle lightly.

"Everything okay?" She asked, and Chaeyoung hummed.

Yeri was a sweet girl, she was glad she had hired her. Not too nosy, but good at her job. Everything Chaeyoung asked for.

"Had a crappy evening," She answered, staying purposely vague, and the younger didn't ask any more question, much to the blonde's liking.

Chaeyoung watched as the girl took care of the flowers in the shop with a small smile. The last person she hired, a guy barely older than Yeri, was a brute. Sure, he was good with their customers, and somewhat charismatic, which was a pretty good quality in that field. But it was obvious he did this job for the money, not for his love for flowers.

Which was, by the way, completely inexistent, even if he had claimed otherwise before Chaeyoung hired him.

Flowers necessitated delicacy and attention, things he never gave them. Making a bouquet was like making an art piece, it required a lot of patience and obviously some kind of taste. You couldn't mix just any color, or any flower. A bouquet didn't have just an aesthetic aspect either, flowers had meaning, so did colors. Flowers had to be chosen carefully to deliver the right message.

It wasn't that hard to understand, really.

Chaeyoung was glad she got rid of him. At least, Yeri didn't make silly mistakes.

Theblonde got up, making her way to the other side of the shop where they kept the roses and knelt in front of them, admiring them. She knew it wasn't really original, but roses truly were her favorite flowers. They were delicate, yet held something so seductive. No wonder red roses were often gifted to lovers.

Chaeyoung used to love white roses the most. She remembered when she was younger, she always kept a vase with a white rose in her room, they had followed her when she kept on moving away from house to house, the only thing that truly felt like home. When she couldn't buy any, she always managed to steal them somewhere. Sometimes it was from her neighbor's garden, sometimes directly from a shop.

Chaeyoung had always been a fast runner.

Though, as she grew up, it was like that love had been tinted.

Drop by drop, the roses turned into a deep, sanguine red. The purity and innocence she once held long gone.

A loud noise suddenly brought her out of her daze, and she quickly turned around, rushing to the back of the store where Yeri was.

There was glass shattered all over the floor, a small bouquet of daisies on the side. Yeri had her eyes wide opened, mouth agape in shock, and when she noticed that Chaeyoung was there too, she quickly crouched down and started cleaning up the mess she had made.

"I'm so sorry, miss Park, I-" She mumbled and the woman chuckled before joining her down to help her.

"No worries, it happens. Go take care of the daisies, I'll clean it up."

"Are you sure? I can-"

"I'm sure, Yeri. Go." She interrupted her, "And I told you to call me Chaeyoung, by the way."

"R-Right, sorry again, m- Chaeyoung, I- I'll go now."

Before she knew it, the girl had left, rushing out to put the flower in a new vase, probably. Chaeyoung moved quickly, picking out the small pieces of glass scattered on the floor one by one carefully. Though, it seemed not to be enough, and the woman hissed as she felt the sharp glass cut a thin line on her finger.

She brought it up eye-level and stared at it for a few seconds, before a small red droplet escaped, and Chaeyoung immediately looked away, not baring the sight of blood.

She got up, wrapped a finger in a tissue, before joining Yeri who was taking care of some other flowers. The woman let out a deep sigh, making the younger look at her with big eyes.

"I'm going to leave now, Yeri. I'm tired. Can I count on you to close the shop?"

Chaeyoung knew she was being unfair, the younger was just an apprentice and she shouldn't ask her to do her job for herself. But she was exhausted, and felt anger starting to rise in her. She didn't want to cause another mess.

Yeri nodded, probably not daring to say no. Chaeyoung had sensed her tone was much colder, and figured the younger didn't want to get on her bad side.

Smart girl.

The blonde woman gave her one last smile, though it wasn't nearly as sincere as usual, before grabbing her bag and leaving the shop without another word. She wanted nothing more than to get home and relax, get some much needed sleep. This kind of life was really demanding, but at least Chaeyoung lived comfortably. Her apartment was located in one of Seoul's nicest place, and she knew she wouldn't be bothered there.

She took out her phone as she started walking toward the building to try and change her mind a little, and a smile appeared on her lips as the girl's profile she was looking at earlier flashed on her screen. She was pretty, really, she couldn't lie. There was something captivating about her. Something sinful, almost.

Chaeyoung smiled, not thinking about the previous night's incident anymore.

She couldn't wait to play with her.

**Jennie**

Jennie tried to force a polite smile as her boss sat across her on the other side of his desk. He still had a cold gaze, and the brunette wondered how much trouble she had gotten herself in.

He cleared his throat, catching her attention, before speaking up. "I heard about the progress you've made so far, and I must admit, I'm really disappointed in you, given your reputation, Kim."

The detective let out a small, shaky breath, clenching her fist tightly.

"I know, sir, I'm sorry, but… It's been only two days, and we're really trying-"

"Trying isn't enough!" He exclaimed, and the brunette immediately shut her mouth, "Mr. Yang called earlier to tell me how unsafe he feels now, there's someone after him and you're being useless!"

Jennie gulped, looking away. "With all due respect, sir, from what we have so far… I doubt that this person has something against him, it rather seem like they were after his money, but…"

"I need evidence, Kim, I need you to do better," He sighed, and Jennie felt her eyes getting teary.

God, no. She had never broken down in front of him, why was she becoming so fragile? She usually managed to stay strong, hold her ground against him.

"I will, I promise." She paused for a few seconds, "But you can look into our reports, there was nothing there, I… The thief left no trace of his visit, and Yang has no one after him, we already looked into it, the only man who might want to harm him, one of his former colleague, has a solid alibi. There's nothing else beside this, and-"

"Are you asking me to do your job, then?"

Jennie's gaze landed on cold eyes, and she slowly shook her head, not wanting to say a word anymore. She was basically digging her own grave at this point, anything she said would fire back against her.

Her captain leaned on his desk, keeping his eyes stuck in hers, making the brunette feel small under his gaze. "For God's sake, Kim. I really thought you were better than that." He chuckled lowly, before slumping back down on his chair, shaking his head slightly. "Tell me you at least have a solid lead?" He asked, and Jennie cleared her throat.

"Yeah," She nodded slowly, trying to regain her composure, "He had a date with a woman that evening, he told us himself, but he refuses to say more about it." Jennie started, "I went to the bar he said he went to, and a client did witness him leaving with a woman, they aren't a hundred percent sure though. I also inspected Yang's apartment and… It looks like someone has been struggling to open the door from the inside, so my theory is that whoever he went home with that evening drugged him and stole his stuff. He probably locked the door, so rather than struggling to come in, our thief had trouble coming out. I'm pretty confident with this theory, but with have no actual evidence, and if Yang refuses to say more, well…." She trailed, and her captain raised an eyebrow at that, before letting out a low sigh.

"Well, it's your job to find out," He said, "I truly hope you won't disappoint me again, Kim. You better figure this out quickly."

"Of course, sir."

"Good. You can leave."

Jennie didn't need to be told twice as she immediately got up and rushed out of the office, finally releasing her breath after holding it for so long.

It hadn't been as terrible as she thought it'd be, at least he didn't think her theory was stupid, that was a good start.

But what could she do now? How could she find that woman?

She couldn't mess this up. She had to find an idea, and soon.


	5. chapter four

**Jennie**

This case shouldn't be so hard to figure out, and it made Jennie's head hurt. She was convinced when she first heard of it that she'd have it solved within a day or two, but it had been nearly a week already, and she had nothing.

There was something more to it, that she was sure. There had to be reason why Yang refused to tell them the real nature of that date. If he was as scared as he had told their captain, then he'd do everything he could to help the detectives figure it out, including revealing the identity of that woman.

If he knew it, that was.

That was one of Jennie's theory about her. She could possibly be an escort, which would explain why Yang was so secretive about it. The detective knew that men like him had the power and money to get anything they wanted, legal or not, and get away with it. This would explain a lot. But the thief had to know which items they were stealing, they took the most expensive ones (that were easy to carry), they had to have made some kind of research, which meant they knew Yang before, or had planned the burglary at least.

Jennie had thought about a secret male lover, too. This could be why Yang didn't say anything. But no one ever saw him close to any man, and that witness at the bar saw him leaving with a woman, so that theory was very unlikely.

God, how she wished she at least had a clue, anything to figure out the woman's identity.

This whole case was slowly making her insane.

The loud ring of her phone suddenly startled her as she was looking at the picture of the scene for the nth time, and she quickly made her way to it, a smile appearing on her tired face as she saw Jisoo's name flashing on her screen.

"Hey, chu," She greeted, happy to have something to change her mind for a bit. She had been working on the case for a few hours already, despite that day being one of her few days off, and thought she really needed a break.

"Jendeuk! Are you busy?" The detective could hear indiscernible chatter in the background, as well as some loud music.

She glanced at the files discarded on the floor next to her, and shook her head slowly, "Uh, not really no. What's up?"

"We're at the bar with everyone else, Jinyoung will join us soon too, wanna tag along?"

"Yeah, sure," She chuckled lowly. She wasn't too happy with seeing her other colleagues, but she really needed a drink, and it had been a while since she hanged out with Jisoo, the only friend she had left after…

Everything.

"Where are you guys?" She asked, trying not to let her mind go back there again. "I'll leave in a minute."

"I'll send you the address! Be quick, there's way too many men here." Jisoo said before hanging up, not leaving the brunette a chance to answer.

She hoped going out would make her feel better. Or less miserable, at least.

**Chaeyoung**

Chaeyoung let out a low laugh as she looked at the car leaving the building on her computer screen. God, they gave up too easily. It was boring, really.

"Morons," She grumbled, before taking a sip of tea, hissing as the hot beverage burned her tongue.

Fuck, she hated that day already.

Chaeyoung thought it would be fun to observe them, that it would give her the rush of adrenaline she was so despairingly craving for. She was playing a dangerous game, that she was very aware of, but she loved the risk of it all, any wrong step and it was all over. The thrill almost made her high, it was definitely better than any drugs she had taken before. She couldn't get enough of it.

But hell, everyone else had been nothing but a disappointment so far. How could the people responsible of protecting citizens be so bad at their own job? How could such useless, stupid men work in that field? It stunned her.

She knew she should be thankful for it, but where was the fun in that? She was so, so bored, it almost took away all the fun of her nocturnal escapades. She wouldn't forgive them for that. They ruined everything. What could she do to make them even just a little more interested? Did she need to send them clues herself?

Fucking hopeless idiots. She should take care of them too, maybe then they'd do their job.

The blonde woman was growing more and more frustrated, this whole situation made her blood boil in her veins. God, she needed to do something, anything. She had no one to let out her pent up anger on, and it made her slowly grow insane.

She felt like she was losing control, of herself, and everything else around her. She hated every bit of it.

" _Fuck_." She breathed out, grabbing the mug that was still on her desk beside her before throwing it against a wall, hot tea spilling all over the floor.

She couldn't care less.

She got up quickly, making her way to her bathroom to splash her face with cold water, hoping it would help her regain a bit of control over herself, but it could only do so much.

She leaned on the sink, panting. God, she wanted to scream, break everything around her, but she knew it wouldn't help her. She needed more.

Chaeyoung slowly looked up, staring at her reflection on the mirror hanging on the wall. Her eyes were cold, making a low chuckle escape her lips. She knew she shouldn't go out, but she was too enraged to be reasonable.

She hoped she would find someone to distract her, help her calm down.

**Jennie**

Jennie laughed at the sight of a very flustered Jisoo, as her wife had a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Oh and there's also been this time where Jisoo came to visit me at the dance studio during a class and got jealous because I was paying more attention to the kids than her," The black haired girl laughed as Jisoo's cheeks turned into a bright red, "She acts all though but she's just a baby, I swear."

"Lisa." Jisoo groaned, making Jennie chuckle.

"It's fine babe, it was really cute."

"I hate you."

"Love you too." Lisa smiled, and Jennie could tell Jisoo wanted to as well, despite her current attitude.

The detective loved seeing her friend happy, Jisoo and Lisa were truly a match made in heaven. While Jisoo was a really serious and professional person, she seemed to melt every time she was in the younger's company, which never failed to make Jennie laugh. Yet, she couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy at their happiness.

She had been like this with Irene too. She was supposed to be married to her, already. Go out with her, laugh with their friends, tease her in public too.

But she was apparently not worthy of such pleasure.

The brunette downed the remaining of her drink in one go, trying to drown all of her feelings again. Her friends seemed to be completely oblivious to her change of mood, which was probably better. She didn't want to ruin the evening.

After a minute, they were joined by their other colleagues who had a few shots in hands, some of them already seemed drunk and were laughing loudly at something one of them said.

Jennie recognized Jinyoung and Mark among them, the latter seemed a little more down than the others. Probably just tired, she thought. He was working on a complicated case too.

"Kim! You came," One of the men said, and Jennie forced a smile on her face.

"Yeah, of course."

"I'm glad you're here, these idiots can't stop teasing me about our case," Said Jinyoung as he sat down beside her, and she shook her head.

"Oh, I'm definitely not here to talk about work, guys."

"Yeah, I get it. Heard you got scolded by the captain," One of the detective, Bobby, if she remembered correctly, laughed.

Jerk.

"Yeah, he's unhappy with our progress, but I swear this case is a real pain. We don't know what to do." Jinyoung answered for her.

"Aw want me to take it for you? I bet it's actually not that hard, you guys just suck." The detective said that in a teasing tone, but the brunette could tell he was only half joking. She clenched her jaw, trying to resist the growing envy she had to punch him.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try, Bobby. Bet you'd give up in like an hour."

"Is that a challenge?" He leaned closer on the table.

"Wanna make it one?"

"Guys, come on." Jisoo cleared her throat, trying to ease the tension that had increased incredibly in barely a minute. "Jen's right, let's just stop talking about work. We're all tired."

"Alright, whatever." Bobby scoffed, downing a shot.

Jinyoung gave the brunette a sympathetic smile, which she only half returned before taking another drink too. Maybe going out hadn't been such a good idea, she felt even more frustrated than before.

Everyone quickly moved to another topic, which Jennie just ignored. She couldn't stop thinking about her case. Was she actually that stupid?

Maybe Bobby was right, maybe it wasn't that hard, and she had just become a terrible detective. Hell, she couldn't remember doing a thing right ever since the break up. It was like Irene took everything good in her as she left.

It was ironic, really. She left her because Jennie was too dedicated to her job, but now that she was alone the brunette couldn't even focus on that anymore. All she could think about was her ex-fiancée, and what she should've done to prevent her from leaving.

"I'm gonna grab a drink," The brunette mumbled as she got up, not really caring if anyone heard her or not.

She didn't feel like listening to her colleague's happy chatter about their latest vacations or how cute their kids were. She just really needed to get drunk if she didn't want to go completely insane.

"Wait up!" She heard a voice say behind her, which she recognized as Mark's.

Just her luck.

The detective quickly caught up to her, and they both silently made their way to the counter. Mark had a small smile on his face, but she could tell it was not sincere at all.

"Hey, uh," He cleared his throat to grab her attention as they both waited for the barman to notice them, and she half-heartedly turned around to listen to whatever he had to say. "Don't listen to Bobby, I know how complicated your case is." He said, and Jennie nodded slowly.

Yeah, that sure helped.

"It's fine, Mark."

"You know, I'm kinda stuck too."

Ugh. She really wasn't up for small talks. Couldn't a woman get drunk in peace?

"Yeah, so i've heard."

"It's like a ghost killed them, I swear."

Jennie perked up at that. A ghost, uh?

"What do you mean?"

Mark smiled at the brunette's sudden interest. "I mean like, there is absolutely no trace of the murderer, which is why I thought the first one was a suicide. But two can't be a coincidence, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose not." She breathed out.

"Besides, we recently noticed that they stole some stuff to those poor men too, after murdering them. But like, how the fuck did they leave no evidence of their visit? Doesn't fucking make sense."

"Wait-" Jennie frowned at the detective's words. Her mind was working much slower than usual, probably because of the alcohol, but this intrigued her. "They stole some stuff? Like what?"

"Uh... I mean we can't really ask the victims. Because, well, they're dead." He chuckled awkwardly, "But like, we have some photos of before the last one was killed, and there was some kind of sculpture in his apartment, or i don't know what the fuck it is exactly, but it's not there anymore. We also think they stole his watch, I bet it was expensive as fuck. Those men were fucking rich."

Jennie felt her confusion growing more at every word he said. This... this couldn't be a coincidence. Right? Two people after rich men, none of them leaving any trace of their visit.

And the marks on Yang's wrists... Could it be?

"And how did you find them? They were tied up, right?" She asked, she needed to be sure.

"Uh, yeah." Mark nodded, "One hand tied up to a chair once, on a table the next time. It's kind of a weird setting, like... They were up for some kinky stuff, you know," He laughed, and Jennie could barely hide her disgust. "I told you, this whole thing is... so weird."

"Yeah." She nodded.

There had to be a link. Except for the fact that Yang was still alive, the three cases had so much in common. Maybe that was it, maybe Jennie had a way to figure it all out, maybe this was the piece she was missing?

Someone was after rich men, and that someone seemed to be much more dangerous than the detective thought at first.

_A serial killer_.

That... was quite exciting.

"What is making you smile?" Mark suddenly asked, and she shook her head. Hell, she was still too drunk to make any assumption, she needed to sober up first, then she'd investigate.

"Nothing," She said, "But uh, if you want to we can work together tomorrow, I bet we could both use some help." Mark broke into a wide smile as the words left her mouth, and he enthusiastically nodded.

"Yeah, definitely!"

She gave him a small smile. This was a new lead she absolutely had to explore, and she couldn't help but imagine everyone's reactions if she solved her own case and Mark's. Catching a serial killer at that. This was exactly what she needed to get back in tracks, like the universe was handing her those cases on a silver platter.

"Okay, cool," The brunette said, trying not to let it all get to her head before turning back towards the bar. She still needed a drink, or two. Maybe even more so than before.

"Hey, uh, maybe we could also like- go out, grab something to eat after work, you know. Just the two of us. My treat, obviously." Mark said after a minute, as they were both waiting for their drinks to be ready, and Jennie looked at him with a frown.

_Oh_ …

Of course.

"Mark-" She sighed.

Obviously he wasn't just a nice guy. He wanted something else. She should've seen it coming, really.

"What?"

"I'm gay."

There was a small silence, during which Jennie didn't dare say anything else. She knew not everyone reacted well to hearing those words.

"Oh" He finally breathed out, looking dumbfounded.

Jennie would laugh at the face he was making if she wasn't feeling so down. She focused her attention back on the bar as someone handed her her drink, waiting for him to say anything else.

"I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's fine, dude." She chuckled lowly, before finishing her drink quickly. She didn't want to stay there a second more. She was exhausted. "I'll see you tomorrow at work, yeah?"

"Y-Yeah,"

"Bye."

She didn't wait for him to answer before turning around and making her way towards the exit. She needed to let her mind rest to be at her best the day after, her conversation with Mark had brought her a bit of hope, which she really needed after everything else.

She really shouldn't make assumptions so fast, maybe both of their cases had absolutely nothing to do with the other, it was likely, really. She shouldn't be too delusional about that, her captain would probably laugh at her if she told him.

But the thought excited her. Maybe she was actually becoming crazy.

Who cared?

This was her last hope.

The brunette sighed as she stepped outside, the cold air instantly easing her. She decided against walking home, knowing that as a woman it wasn't a good idea, and took out her phone to call a taxi.

Before she could do so, though, her gaze landed on an empty street, she swore she saw something move.

Her detective's instinct took over, there was something odd, definitely.

Jennie stepped closer to it, a shiver running up her spine. The closer she got, the quieter everything around her was.

It was quite dark, and she knew she should probably turn around and leave, call a taxi, get home.

But then, something moved again. Her vision was blurry, but Jennie could swear she caught a glimpse of blonde hair, and if she listened attentively she could hear some rushed steps. There was something going on, something bad, most likely.

Fuck.

What was she supposed to do?

Taking a deep breath, Jennie stepped into the shadow, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that crept inside her body, making goosebumps erupt all over her skin. She knew she should listen to the voice that was telling her to leave, run away far from there while she still could. 

She did none of that, though, and kept on walking in the small alley, looking at everything around her as the lights started to fade. The street was only lit up by the light of the moon at this point, and the brunette knew it could only take her a second of distraction for someone to come closer to her unnoticed and potentially harm her.

God, Jennie hoped her hard-earned self defense skills worked even when drunk.

She didn't want to end her life murdered in a dark alley.

Some shuffling sounds suddenly startled her, and her head shot to her right where she thought the noises came from.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck_. This was all too real. And probably too late to leave. If Jennie had learned one thing from her job, it was to always face the danger, always confront it, and never run away from it. She was the hunter, not the prey.

Her life might be a complete mess, but she wouldn't give in to fear, she wouldn't show vulnerability. Whatever was happening, she wouldn't run away from it. Maybe it was stupid, but she didn't care.

Carefully, she took a step forward, her eyes now adjusted to the darkness. She noticed that a door was slightly opened, and if she paid enough attention, she was sure she heard someone inside. They were close. All Jennie had to do what to get inside the building. It was only then that she realized she had no idea what that place was, it seemed abandoned from how damaged the building was, but what the hell would someone do there at this hour?

She gulped loudly, feeling her heart beating faster and faster in her chest, her fists clenched tightly, ready to defend herself if necessary.

She was almost there, and could clearly hear noises inside a this point. It really sounded like someone's breathing, labored and shallow. There was something going on, and Jennie was about to find out what.

Her hand shaking, she reached for the handle of the door, letting out a sharp breath when it started squeaking loudly. Oh, no.

Suddenly, a low chuckle resonated and she froze, a shiver running up her spine. She'd been caught.

_Fuck, no, no, no-_

" _Jennie?_ "

It took everything in her not to scream as she turned around, a second away from attacking whoever the intruder was to protect herself.

She stopped herself as soon as she saw the person's eyes, though.

"Jisoo." She breathed out, finally letting her muscles relax as she realized she wasn't in danger. Not yet, at least.

"What are you doing here?" The raven haired girl's voice was cold, her eyebrow were scrunched down in concern, if Jennie didn't know her so well she probably would've been scared.

"I…"

"Oh god, you're wasted, aren't you?"

Jennie shook her head at that, regretting it instantly as a sharp ache burst in her head, making her hiss in pain.

"Fuck, Jen- let's get you home," Jisoo sighed, and the brunette's eyes widened, suddenly remembering why she was there in the first place.

"No, wait," She whispered, "There's something here," Jennie looked at Jisoo with pleading eyes, though she wasn't sure that the older girl could clearly see her.

Jisoo shook her head slowly, grabbing Jennie's upper arm, "Whatever, that's none of your business, Jennie I… God you could've gotten yourself in danger if I wasn't here. Let's go home now. Lisa will drive you to your place,"She said, her eyes stuck on Jennie's.

The younger had never heard Jisoo be so cold to her, and it made her heart sink.

"No, you don't understand-"

" _Please_ ," Jennie's breath hitched when she heard her friend's plea. God, had she really upset her that much? "We're leaving now" Jisoo insisted- almost forcing Jennie to follow her as she started to leave.

The brunette could only listen, feeling too weak to resist her friend. She didn't want to disappoint her even more, anyway.

Hell, was this all she could do? Disappoint the only people who hadn't left her yet? If this kept on going like this, she'd end up alone by the end of the month. She had to get herself together.

Glancing one last time at the door, Jennie tried to guess what could be happening, why she had such a bad feeling about it. She had been so attracted by it, like someone was controlling her mind, drawing her towards that place. She didn't have any control over the situation, and she realized Jisoo was probably right. She had to snap out of it.

She'd get a good night of rest, and go to work the following day. She had a new lead and a lot of work awaiting her there.

She'd be okay.

_(Jennie wished she actually believed that)._


	6. chapter five

**Jennie**

Jennie buried her head in her arms as a groan left her mouth, Mark silently laughing beside her. Hadn't she been so exhausted, she'd probably have gotten mad at him, there was absolutely nothing funny about the situation. They were both stuck on stupid cases with a criminal in the wind. They had to figure this out quickly if they didn't want more people to lose their lives, but all Mark was doing was laughing at the detective's frustration.

Fucking idiot.

"I don't get it," She breathed out, trying to ignore her growing headache. "How the fuck- how do we have absolutely nothing on them ?"

"I don't know," Mark answered with a shrug. "I guess they know what they're doing..."

"Wait-" Jennie's eyes widened as her lips curled up into a smile, "That's it!" She exclaimed.

"What's it-"

She shook her head, getting up and walking around the room as if it could help her sort her thoughts.

"Listen, whoever killed your guys-" And robbed mine, Jennie bit her lip so the last words wouldn't slip out, it was too early for her to share her theory about them being the same person, "Was obviously experienced, right?"

"Um... I mean, I guess. They knew what they were doing, at least."

"Then it might not be their first go," The detective explained, and her colleague nodded, his eyebrows furrowed.

"So..." He trailed,

"We should look into it, try to search if there have been similar cases recently around here."

Mark let out a low sigh at her words, "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I don't know if we're gonna find more, honestly."

"It's worth trying," She shrugged, "And that's all we have for now, anyway."

"Yeah, true. Thanks for helping me Jennie, by the way."

 _I'm not helping you, Idiot._ She thought, despairingly wanting to say it out loud. The man was a nice guy, but he was seriously getting on her nerves. She wondered how such a bad detective got assigned to a case that serious. Lives were at stakes, for God's sake. The situation was too urgent to be taken lightly, which he didn't seem to realize at all. The only thing he could do was to complain about how hard this case was like it would help solve it in any way.

"Oh, I'm just as stuck as you, so..." She said, knowing that she had to remain nice to him if she wanted more details about those murders, "I was hoping this would somehow enlighten me too."

Mark only nodded, giving her a sympathetic smile, "Where's Jinyoung by the way? Isn't he supposed to help you?"

"He's with Yang, asking him some questions again. He should be back soon,"

"Oh, okay. You guys are lucky your guy's still alive, I wish I could ask the victims some questions too."

"Yeah, well," Jennie chuckled, "He might as well be dead, honestly, it's not like he's helping us at all."

Mark looked at her with a frown, not answering anything. Jennie sat back down on her chair, deciding that it was best not to elaborate. She needed to get some work done.

Both of the detective dove back in the pile of paper they had gathered, the brunette was analyzing for the nth time the pictures Mark had taken at his crime scenes.

It was all so neat, if it wasn't for the dead bodies, no one could've guessed what happened there. The two places were perfectly clean, not one furniture seemed out of place, except for the one the bodies were tied to, obviously.

Although she had been quite grossed out by her colleague's remark the evening prior about the victims looking like they were about to engage in some... weird kind of sexual games before being murdered, she couldn't deny it. Both of the men shirt's were partly opened, and the positions they had been found in left little room to the imagination.

The motive and circumstance of the murders weren't so hard to guess, the only mystery remaining was the identity of the murderer.

Jennie's gaze focused on a small item on the picture. She squinted, recognizing a red rose, discarded on the floor a few feet away from where the victim was found.

"Hey, Mark?" She asked, and the guy hummed, not bothering to look up from his computer screen, "What about that rose?"

"Oh," He glanced up, meeting her gaze, "We already analyzed it in case there was some DNA on it or something, but there's nothing, so..."

"Think the killer was the one who gifted it to them?"

"I don't know," He shrugged, "Possibly."

Jennie only nodded. Another dead end, great.

Or...

Maybe not.

A red dot on another picture immediately caught her attention. It was on the first crime scene, this time. A single red rose in a vase, in what she supposed was the living room. The color was still pretty bright, and although she didn't know much about flowers, she could tell it hadn't withered yet, so it had been put there not long before the picture was taken.

She handed it to Mark, who looked up at Jennie, barely hiding his confusion.

"What about that one?"

"What? The rose?" He asked and Jennie hummed, "Uh... No, we didn't really pay attention to it, to be honest."

"And do you think it's a coincidence?"

He sighed, "I don't know, Jennie. Maybe not. But it doesn't really matter anyway."

"Why? Come on Mark, that can be a hint?"

"It's just a rose, Jennie. Everyone gift roses to their significant other, it doesn't have to mean anything. Besides, our first victim was married, so..."

She shook her head, this had to mean something, maybe some kind of tradition the killer had before murdering their victim. Or... Maybe Jennie was completely losing her mind, clinging to anything that could help her figure it out.

She let out a deep sigh, before reaching out to the pictures of her own case. She still needed to be sure.

She shuffled through them, analyzing them one by one until her eyes landed on another red spot.

Fuck, that was it!

Someone had gifted Yang a red rose that evening, just life for the two other victims, this couldn't be yet another coincidence, there was definitely a pattern there, Jennie was a hundred percent sure of it.

She chose to keep it for herself, though. Mark didn't seem so fond of her theory, and she didn't want to argue yet. She'd gather more clues before that.

A sly smile made its way to her lips. She was getting closer to the killer.

And she had just the perfect idea to trap them.

**Chaeyoung**

"What's making you smile so hard?" A voice, which Chaeyoung recognized as Yeri's, suddenly started the older girl.

She turned around so that she was facing her and gave her a warm smile, "I don't know, today's a good day," she answered, putting the flowers that were in her head on the table beside them.

They had been busy all day long as many customers came and bought flowers, much to Chaeyoung pleasure. She loved seeing new faces, especially when the people seemed interested in whatever the girl had to say about the flowers they were purchasing.

"Yeah, you're like, almost glowing," Yeri chuckled, quickly followed by the blonde woman. "But it's nice to see you like this, you seemed pretty tired this week." She added.

"I guess so, but I'm better now." She answered, her voice soft.

"That's good to hear,"

They stayed silent for a few minutes after that, tidying the shop before they'd have to leave. It was already quite late, almost nine in the evening, yet Chaeyoung didn't mind staying at the store a little longer than necessary. Yeri had accepted too, which didn't really surprise the older woman. She'd no anything she asked, anyway.

"So..." The young girl trailed, biting her lip, making her giggle softly.

"What do you wanna ask, Yeri?"

"You don't have to answer that, obviously, I know it's like- your personal life and everything, but..." She paused for a few seconds, "Got someone in your life?" She asked, a shy smile, and the blonde could only shake her head, laughing.

"Yeri! Seriously?"

"What?! I mean come on, you've been like smiling stupidly all day long. No offense" She smiled, "It's fair to ask I think!"

Chaeyoung kept on organizing her flowers, storing them inside the shop, as she listened to her apprentice's rumbling.'

"I don't have anyone," She answered, a soft smile on her lips as Yeri joined her inside, "I don't need a man to be happy, y'know?"

"O-oh, of course! It's not what I meant,"

"Relax, Yeri. I know that." She chuckled, "I'm just happy because of this... Game, I recently started."

"Oh," The younger breathed out. "What's that?"

"Nothing too special, now work, come on, I don't pay you to talk." Chaeyoung said while laughing, but her tone was sterner this time, which Yeri seemed to notice as she immediately went back to her task, not asking any more question.

The blonde woman couldn't stop smiling though. Finally, she could have a bit of fun.

**Jennie**

"Jennie, I feel ridiculous,"

"Nooo, I think you look amazing like this,"

"And I think you're enjoying this a little too much,"

The brunette smiled, choosing not to answer this time, as she kept on taking pictures of her partner.

If her theory was correct, then their thief (and potential serial killer), was attracted to wealthy men. So what better way to attract them than pretending to be a rich man ?

Obviously, Jennie couldn't do that. But Jinyoung seemed perfect for the role, as he was a fairly attractive young man. All he needed was a small make over and photoshoot session to make it seem like he was from the upper class, which the brunette was happy to provide. She hadn't had a fun time in a while, and although they were still doing their job, it was nice to lighten up the mood a little.

Jinyoung hadn't be so happy with the idea, but accepted nonetheless. He knew that they didn't have much more solution anyway, and even if the chances of the mysterious woman contacting them weren't so high, they were still there. They had to at least try.

Maybe this would go well. For once.

"You look perfect," Jennie giggled as she put down her camera, plugging it on her computer.

"Yeah, I think I was made to wear suits," He playfully answered, sitting beside the younger woman, "What do we do now?"

"Create you a profile on a few dating apps, and see who contacts you. You have to look like some kind of stupid asshole by the way, easy to steal from, and not too nice or whatever."

Jinyoung nodded, "How do we know when we have the right person?"

"I guess you'll have to go on a few dates if the profile fits, we'll keep an eye on you. If someone tries to drug you, well... I guess we'll know then." She shrugged. "This is the only thing we can do for now."

"Perfect. I'm sure my wife will be really happy with it," He laughed, Jennie soon following. "I hope this will work..."

"I hope so too." The brunette smiled sadly.

They both got back to work silently, wanting to get over with that day as soon as possible. Jennie had some hope, they were closer than they'd ever been to catch the thief, but she was exhausted from the long day, and from the event of the last evening too. She was still confused as of what happened to her for her to put herself in danger like that, completely unarmed. She blamed it on the alcohol, but knew deep down that even sober she would've felt the same attraction.

Maybe her life didn't matter that much to her anymore. 

"God, I'm so tired," She sighed, speaking up for the first time in nearly an hour, as she slumped down on her chair, making her partner smile slightly.

"Yeah, same here." He answered before glancing up at the clock on the wall, "It's late already anyway, maybe we should just head home, I'll drive you if you want to."

"Sure, That'd be nice."

"Let's go then. We'll just keep on monitoring the dating apps from home."

The brunette nodded, that sounded like a good plan. They both gathered their files and made their way outside. The sun had set already, Jennie hadn't noticed that it was that late. She was used to stay longer at work these days anyway, it felt more welcoming than her home, if she could even still call it that.

Soon enough, they arrived at the woman's place, and her colleague bid her goodbye with a smile before driving off, leaving Jennie alone as a feeling of dread took over her senses.

God, she had promised Jisoo she'd stay sober that day, but she wasn't sure she'd manage to keep that promise. She felt so empty, and had absolutely nothing to do that evening. What else could she do to keep the pain away?

She sighed, making her way inside her apartment reluctantly. Maybe she should just move away, this place held too many memories for her. She wasn't sure she had the strength to do it, though.

Ignoring the voice in the back of her head, Jennie made her way to her kitchen and poured herself a glass of whisky. It was a terrible idea, her stomach was still empty, and she already felt sick. But she knew everything could barely get worse, anyway, and she needed to relax. No one would know about that drink anyway.

The hours went by incredibly slowly, and Jennie felt the ache in her chest only increase, no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

She tried to stay focused on her task as she was busy looking through some women's profile on dating app, hoping one of them would make the job easy enough for them. Maybe one of them would have a pic with some of the stolen items?

Jennie scoffed. Of course, and they'd have ' _murderer_ ' written as their job on their profile too, while she was at it. God, she was getting too despaired, it was ridiculous.

She started chuckling lowly at how absurd the whole situation was, before her phone suddenly ringed, startling her.

It was probably Jinyoung, giving her some news on the situation. She hoped so, at least.

It... was not, though.

Jennie furrowed her eyebrows at the text she just received, feeling her heartbeat increase by the second.

 _"I'm disappointed in you, Jennie."_ She read out loud, trying to understand what it meant. It was from an unknown number, and she was pretty sure no one close to her changed their numbers recently. She didn't text anyone beside Jisoo and some of her other colleague anyway. So who could it be?

A second ring made her breath hitch, and she shivered as she read the second text that came.

" _If anything, I would've liked having you more than your partner. You're definitely more my type. I thought you were a little smarter than that, though._ "

... _What_?

God, there was no way...

This was _her_.

Or well, Jennie supposed it was a her, she didn't know anything about that person, really, despite that they were potentially some kind of dangerous psychopath and that they had somehow found her number.

Who knew what else they had about her?

Fuck, this was so bad. Jennie had been convinced she was a step ahead a few moments ago, but she'd never been so wrong.

Taking a deep breath, she started typing her reply, her fingers slightly shaking. She couldn't let them know that she was scared.

_"Oh, well, in that case... would you mind me inviting you somewhere instead?"_

The reply came almost immediately, making Jennie shiver. God, that was all _so_ fucking bad. She was playing a risky game, putting her life in danger, but...

_"You're a bold woman, I like that."_

_"I'm sure you can guess my answer, though. But nice try, really."_

Maybe Jennie was just too lonely. But she couldn't help but find that person incredibly attractive just through those few texts, which terrified her.

Hell, she was finding a criminal hot just over a text message. What the hell was wrong with her?

Shaking her head, Jennie focused back on her task. She had to get them to talk, in case they wouldn't be able to trace the phone later.

" _I_ _thought you were more of the risky type. I guess you aren't the only disappointed woman here"_

The detective bit the inside of her cheek as she awaited the answer. She hoped they'd fall for it, being sure of their gender would already decrease drastically the amount of potential suspects.

" _And what exactly tells you that I'm a woman, Kim?"_

_Fuck._

That would've been to easy.

_"I just guessed it from your method. You're rather delicate, too delicate for a man. I admire it, though."_

Jennie would lie if she said she wasn't enjoying it.

To be fair, she was very drunk, and still very heartbroken. Besides, she was trying to do her job, get some information on a dangerous criminal even if it meant putting her own life at risk, so was it really _that_ bad?

She couldn't let them know how much exactly she knew about the crimes. She had to stay as vague as possible. Maybe she wasn't talking to the actual thief or serial killer. Maybe that person didn't know anything beside that Jennie was investigating on Yang's case, which wasn't an information so hard to find.

Hell, for all Jennie knew, maybe they needed her more than she needed them.

_"That's a fair guess, I'll give you that."_

_"And since I quite like you, I'll even confirm it for you. I'm indeed a woman, nice job detective."_

_"Now will it be enough to catch me?"_

_"And how much time do you have left...?"_

_"I guess it's your job to figure that out."_

_"The clock is ticking, Jennie. Can you find me?"_

Jennie felt goosebumps erupt all over her skin as she read the texts, her heartbeat increasing more and more to the point she was worried her heart would burst out of her chest.

How much time left? Was she threatening her?

Well, _she._ If she didn't lie to her, that was. That person might as well be lying to mislead the detective.

Jennie had a feeling she was telling the truth though. She couldn't explain why.

_"Threatening a cop isn't a smart move. I'm pretty sure you're aware that we can trace your phone."_

_"And don't underestimate me. I'm already a step ahead of you."_

Jennie stared at her phone's screen for a few minutes, but no replies came.

 _Fuck_. No way she had blown it already.

The brunette considered texting her again for a second before deciding against it. It would give out the opposite she was trying to show off. She was supposed to seem uninterested, confident. Jennie knew that.

She still hoped that the woman would text her again eventually. The way she was talking to her... It almost seemed like she wanted Jennie to catch her, or like she was challenging her to, at least.

As if it was some kind of sick game.

The brunette shouldn't enjoy it so much.


	7. Chapter six

**Jennie**

Jennie felt like she was going completely insane. Maybe she actually was. It wouldn't even be that surprising after everything she went through and the pressure she had on her from work and other issues. It was too much for one person.

She kind of wished she had actually gone mad. It would at least explain why she was so enthusiastic that her theories were proven right and that she had started a game with a potential serial killer. No sane person would react like that, and Jennie felt like she was anything but sane in that moment. Nothing in her life made sense, and it got worse everyday.

Hell, she knew she had to try and snap out of it, but…

Not for now, maybe later. Maybe once she'd catch that woman, prove everyone how good of a detective she is.

For that to happen, though, she couldn't tell Jinyoung. First of all, because she was scared that the mysterious woman would never text her again if she did. If Jennie made sure that she felt safe enough with her, or didn't see the detective as a threat, then she'd probably try to contact her again, and the brunette would have a lot more chances to find her. Part of her also enjoyed the talk, which was the other reason why Jennie couldn't tell Jinyoung.

He'd definitely think she had gone crazy and make sure she got suspended for a little while, which would make sense really. What kind of person, let alone detective, enjoyed talking to a dangerous criminal ? Jennie couldn't have her captain thinking any less of her, or her career would be over for good.

Which was why, as soon as Jinyoung approached the brunette the morning after the incident and asked her if she had any good news with the dating apps, Jennie just shrugged and answered, "Nothing yet, unfortunately."

She strongly hoped that he'd be the same for him. She knew it was bad, but she'd be disappointed if the woman had texted him too, or anyone else really. Jennie felt special knowing that she was the only one she chose to contact. She hadn't been anyone first choice ever since… well, ever since Irene.

God, it really was pathetic, wasn't it?

Fortunately, Jinyoung only smiled sadly at her and answered "Yeah, same." Before sitting down in front of Jennie and getting ready to work. It would be just another normal day, except the brunette had a motivation this time, an actual criminal to catch, a challenge to win.

She finally felt alive, or closer to it than she had been in a while, and she wasn't going to ruin that. No one could.

"What is making you smile like this?" Jinyoung suddenly asked, chuckling faintly, and the brunette could hardly fight it anymore.

"I don't know, just happy to work?"

 _Happy to work ?! Really, Jennie ?_ She couldn't have find any worst excuse.

"Well, damn, I don't know how you do that. The more days we spend on this case, the less happy I am, honestly."

Jennie just shrugged her shoulder at his statement, "Me too, but I have a good feeling about today. I don't know why."

"Well I hope you're right, Kim," He smiled at her, pausing for a few seconds as he looked through his files before looking up into her eyes again, "The captain should be here in a minute. He wanna hear about our progress, so… Keep that grin on your face,"

" _Oh_ ," She breathed out, her smile immediately disappearing, which made her partner laugh.

"Come on, cheer up. He might tell us to just give up on the case or something. We're worked hard already, there's not a lot more we can do."

She shook her head, "I doubt that, Jinyoung."

 _And he'd never think I worked enough_ , she almost added, but figured it was better not to. She didn't want to have this conversation again.

Barely a few minutes later, the two detectives were in their boss' office, summing up what they had on the case so far. The captain didn't seem to find Jennie's theory stupid, but given how little progress they had made since then, would he think the same this time? The brunette strongly doubted it.

"So… We strongly think it's a woman, who seduced Yang and drugged him before stealing some of his stuff." Jennie stated. That was nothing new.

"Given how neatly it was done, she's probably quite experienced, but we have no witnesses, and a victim that won't talk despite being so scared for his safety, apparently," Jinyoung completed for her.

"And… What else? Did you at least find something new? Do you have another lead?" The captain said, sounding annoyed as ever, and the brunette bit her lip.

Should she say it?

"Not really-"

The way he started to frown was enough of an answer for her.

"Well… actually, I have a new theory, but-"

She could see Jinyoung raising his eyebrow on the corner of her eye, but paid no mind to it. She couldn't close the case so soon, she at least had to share what she thought. Maybe it was too early, but if not now, then when?

"The cases detective Lee is working on… I have a few reason to think that it's linked to ours."

He tilted his head to the side at the younger's statement, "What do you mean?"

"The way the killer and our burglar acted is oddly similar. Both left no trace _at all_ , stole a few items that were worth a lot of money, all of the victims were drugged, the only difference is that Yang wasn't killed. I don't know why, um, I don't know if they were given the same pills with different doses or different ones to be honest, but it's still quite weird and-"

"That's it?" The man interrupted her, and she could only gulp. She could tell just by the way he was looking at her, being completely still, that he wasn't so into that new theory.

"Uh-" She shook her head, "There's also- I mean, there are red roses on all the scenes. I thought that it could be their signature, as-"

"Kim." He cut her off once more, and she didn't try to argument any more this time. She knew there was no use. "You think- God, I really thought you were a better detective than that. Just because you think that two events _look_ alike doesn't mean that they're linked. You haven't even seen the crime scenes, how can you deduce such a thing?" He chuckled, a dark and bitter one, "Park, come on, don't tell me you're with her on this?"

Jinyoung shook his head slowly, avoiding looking at the brunette, "I didn't know about it, sir." He said, and Jennie held back her breathe at that.

Well, perfect.

"Right." He sighed, "You're disappointing me, Kim."

"But-" She cleared her throat, "This could explain why Yang is so scared and refuse to tell her about that woman? Maybe he knows how dangerous she actually is, and…"

" _Enough_." His voice was much firmer already, "I've heard more than enough. You guys are dismissed, and please, get some actual work done, or I'll have to assign this case to someone else."

"Of course, Sir." Jinyoung said, and the brunette could only scoff.

She knew she didn't have enough evidence, but this was definitely an interesting lead that should be explored. If only her captain wasn't a misogynist asshole, he'd agree with her. Jennie was glad she didn't show him the text messages at least, he would've definitely called her crazy then.

She seriously started thinking she was.

***

Jennie was completely drained. The day had been too long and filled by disappointment, all of the joy and hope she had previously had then completely vanished, and she felt like she was back at square one. How could she arrest the murderer if her captain was absolutely convinced that her theory was absurd ? She couldn't do it on her own, she needed a proof that the cases were linked, but she had absolutely nothing, besides the roses that was.

Sighing, she made her way to the office that might probably be her last chance. She wished she had another choice, but…

Jennie knocked on the door softly until a soft voice told her to enter, which she did, her hand shaking a little. She tried to avoid this place as much as possible, it reminded her too much of _her_. But she didn't have any other option, this time.

"Jennie?"

"Hey, Seulgi." She gave her a faint smile, and the older girl only frowned.

"Uh, hi?" Seulgi said as she sat back down on her chair behind her desk, prompting Jennie to do the same. "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, I do."

The older woman tilted her head to the side, waiting for Jennie to continue. Instead of talking, though, the brunette only took out her phone and placed it on the desk between them. Seulgi looked even more confused at that.

"I need you to do me a favor, can you trace a number for me? Got some text messages from an unknown number, I need a name, an address… anything you can give me."

Seulgi nodded slowly, her frown not disappearing one bit. "Is the captain sending you?"

"Oh, no-" She shook her head sideways, "Actually… I need you to do it secretly. I know it might be a lot, but… Yeah. You really can't tell anyone."

The older scoffed at that, glaring at Jennie, "Are you serious?"

"I am."

"Listen, Kim, I don't know who you think you are but- you can't just come here and ask me to do something like that, especially when it involves risking getting myself in trouble." She answered, her voice cold.

Jennie knew she'd react like that.

"I know you hate me, Seulgi." Jennie lets out a bitter chuckle at that. "And trust me if I had any other option I'd take it, but this is a life or death situation."

The older gave her a puzzled look for a few seconds before letting out a deep sigh. "If that's so, I'm sure you can get yourself an authorization from your superior. You know I can't just do that without it."

"The thing is that- I can't. I'll… I can explain, if you want, then it's up to you to decide. But I _really_ need your help."

"Alright, go ahead," Seulgi said, slumping down on her chair as she waited for the younger's explanation.

"I think a… criminal we're currently looking for messaged me. I can't tell you too much about it, but I have many reasons to believe that they're gonna strike again, and soon. The detective that's working on the case is completely incompetent, and we can't have any more person killed, I'm sure you understand that."

The woman nodded slowly, her eyebrows furrowed. "Who's working on it?"

"Mark,"

" _Lee_?!"

Jennie hummed as the older let out a small laugh.

"Alright, but then why would that person message _you_ if you're not the one working on the case? Just seems like a prank to me, Jennie."

"I'm not stupid," The detective answered through gritted teeth, "You can read the conversation anyway, it seems like they've been watching me for some reasons. I can't explain why, but I really need your help on it."

"God, Kim-" She sighed, "What if I get caught?"

"Just say I asked you to do it, or lied to you, I don't know. I'm sure you'll be happy with me getting in trouble anyway." Seulgi smiled at that, proving Jennie that she was right. "I really need you, _please_. You know me, I wouldn't ask you that if I didn't think it was really important."

"I guess…" She shook her head, pausing for a few seconds, probably thinking about what to do. Jennie didn't know what she'd do if she refused, she just hoped that the woman would put her hatred toward her aside for a day and understand how important it was. Almost everyone who worked there knew how despicable their captain was, anyway so surely Seulgi could understand why Jennie needed it done secretly.

After a while, she finally nodded at her, and the Jennie almost let out a victory scream at it. "Fine. I'll do it. But you owe me one, Jennie."

"Of course," The brunette could barely hold back her grin as the woman took the phone on her desk.

"Come back tomorrow, but I can't guarantee I'll find anything."

"Yeah, I'm aware. Thank you Seulgi, really." She said as she got up before stopping in her tracks. "And, uh… tell Irene I said hi." She breathed out hesitantly, hoping that she'd get some sort of comfort.

"She doesn't want to hear about you anymore."

_Right._

Jennie ignored the way her heart clenched in her chest at the words, she only nodded at the woman, trying to stay composed while she was still with her. "Yeah. Have a good evening, I guess."

The older didn't answer this time, and Jennie took it as her cue to leave. Finally, she felt like suffocating in there.

This had been a bit less horrible than she thought it would be.

***

Jennie let out a low sigh as she slumped down on the chair, finally allowing her muscles to relax. Maybe she should get herself a massage or something, her whole body was tensed because of the recent events, it might do her some good. She quickly shook the thought off, though. She clearly had no time for that, not with a serial killer on the loose.

She couldn't help but wonder if the woman had tried contacting her again, and how would Seulgi react if she did?

At least, she might take her more seriously if she did.

"What are you thinking about?" Jisoo suddenly asked, bringing her out of her daze. The woman was tapping her fingers on the wheel softly to the rhythm of the music, her gaze focused on the road before them.

"Work, what else?"

Jisoo chuckled at that, "You really need to get your head out of that Jendeuk, this must be so exhausting."

"What else could I think about?" She sighed, "I only have work, Jisoo."

The latter hummed, pausing for a few seconds. Jennie turned her head back towards her window, looking at the city to try and focus on something else. "Maybe you should try to meet someone new?"

That took Jennie aback, and the latter suddenly turned around so she was facing her friend again, " _What_?!"

"You heard me," The raven haired girl was smiling, "I know it's hard, Jen, but it might be good for you. It's time you move on, now."

"I can't just move on, I-" She shook her head, she could sense her voice was much colder. "How could you even…?"

Jisoo stayed silent for a while before stopping the car in front of Jennie's building.

"I know it's hard, Jennie." She finally spoke up, "I can't even imagine in what state I'd be if Lisa left me, but… You need to do something, it hurts to see you like this. You're a beautiful, young woman. You'll find someone else I'm sure, and after some time it'll all get easier." Her voice was much softer already, which only made Jennie's heart ache more. She knew she was right, but she also knew she didn't have the strength to do that just yet. Irene was the love of her life, as much as it hurt, she didn't want to forget about her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Chu. Thanks for driving me home," The brunette just said as she got out of her seat and rose to her feet.

Maybe Irene was going to come back to her eventually. Maybe she still had a chance.

It was the only thing that kept her going, at this point.

**Rosé**

"You know, it has nothing to do with you, really." The blonde woman chuckled, walking around the room slowly, the only sounds that could be heard were the clinking of her heels on the floor and the man's ragged breathing. She got closer to him, crouching down and running her hand through his hair softly. "You're even quite decent, compared to the others I mean. Beside that you're obviously an awful human being, or I wouldn't do that to you, you know it right?" She laughed again, getting up, "But the circumstances force me to do it so… I'm genuinely sorry."

" _Mph_!"

"Mh? Say that again?"

Rosé had a devilish smile pattered on her face. She loved this too much, she was pretty sure it could be considered an addiction. She looked at the man tied up on his own bed, struggling to get out of the restrains.

Silly, he'd only hurt himself more by doing that. This wasn't his first go, he should know that.

He didn't seem too pleased with the gag tied around his head either, which the woman understood. Men loved to talk, even when they had nothing interesting to say. It was one of the thing she hated about them, so shutting them up was truly a satisfying thing to do.

"Anyway, as I was saying before you interrupted me," She shot a cold gaze his way, hoping that it would make him stop moving around and muffling incoherent things for a while. It worked, obviously. "I'm not doing this because of _you_. You're like- a message, you see? You should be flattered."

He frowned at the words which made her chuckle again.

"I've also been quite hurt by your words," She said, a pout on her lips to emphasize what she was saying, "A blind dating app, really? What do I look like after that, some kind of desperate woman who's too ugly to get laid? That hurts." She stepped closer to the bed once more, and the man tried moving away as far as possible from her, his head turned to the other side. He was shaking slightly, which filled Rosé with pride.

She didn't even have to try hard to turn her victims into pathetic weak beings, it was quite enjoyable.

"You know how hot I am, huh?" The woman asked as she used her finger to turn his head around so he'd face her. The contact of the cold leather of her glove against his skin making him shiver. He nodded frantically at her statement, visibly too scared to do anything else.

"Of course you know that, you didn't hesitate to tell me that the first night we met, right? You did tell me how sexy I looked with my short, short dress, but how much sexier I'd look with it off…" The woman hummed, "What a _rude_ thing to say to a stranger. You were much less confident when I had you begging for me to even just touch you."

The man let out a broken whimper at her words. He seemed completely terrified, unlike last time. _How sad._

She almost wanted to laugh at the sight. How ridiculous did he look like that? His shirt completely opened, exposing his bare chest, and pants slightly down too, he was powerless. Rosé was in control. She always was.

With a sly smirk on her lips, she started trailing her finger up and down his chest, until she reached his throat and wrapped her hand around it, not putting enough pressure to prevent him from breathing, but enough to show him she could end everything in barely a few seconds if she only wanted to. 

"Don't worry, no one will miss you anyway. You should even consider yourself lucky I'm doing this, I'm giving you a little importance in your insignificant life." She said, her smile fading as she finally got up and started walking away again. "You should be happy I'm not doing worse to you, really."

He let out another incoherent noise as an answer, but she paid no mind to it this time. It was probably along the line of ' _Please, don't hurt me, I'll pay you,_ ' etc. As much as sheloved the begging, she felt too tired for that.

"There's nothing you can do to stop what's happening," Rosé stated as she leaned against the wall opposite to his bed, watching him becoming weaker by the second, barely struggling against the restraints anymore. "Just let go, stop fighting it. You look truly pathetic like this, it pains me."

He had tears streaming down his face, though his breathing finally started to slow down, his body limp against the bed.

In barely a minute it would be completely over, and she would finally be able send her little gift to her new obsession.

The thought made her smile.

**Jennie**

The brunette took a sip of whisky, her gazed focused on whatever bad movie the TV was playing, when a loud knock on her door startled her.

Her mind felt foggy, probably because of the alcohol, and she glanced at the clock on her wall, noticing that it was nearly midnight already. Who would visit her at this hour?

Reluctantly, she made her way to the door, thinking that it was most probably her neighbor complaining about the noise of the TV, or something along those lines. No one visited her anymore, especially not at this time of the day.

As soon as she opened the door, though, she couldn't hold back the loud gasp that left her mouth.

Seulgi was there, looking terrified, and the brunette barely had time to wonder what was happening before she barged in her apartment.

"What the _fuck_ did you put me into, Jennie?!" She was almost screaming, making Jennie more and more confused. _What was happening?_

Before she could ask anything, the older woman threw her phone her way, as if it was toxic and she couldn't keep it any longer.

"I'm out, Kim, you hear me?"

"What… What happened?" Jennie asked, her voice barely above a whisper, and the other woman furrowed her eyebrows.

"I couldn't find whoever sent you those texts. The number belong to a fourteen years old boy, so I guess it was stolen." She explained, trying to regain her serious.

"Then what's up?"

"Read the texts." Seulgi only stated and Jennie immediately did as she was told.

Did she text her again?

With her fingers shaking, she opened the conversation and immediately saw the two new messages. _Fuck._

_"Did you really think I was that stupid? I'm offended."_

_"I guess I have to help you a little then."_

_"…_ I _"_ Jennie shook her head. "What does it mean?"

"You tell me," Seulgi scoffed, "But whoever that person is, she clearly knew that you tried to guess her identity, and she might as well know that _I_ am the one looking for it. I don't want to have a serial killer mad at me for God's sake, I have to tell others"

"Don't," Jennie immediately cut her off, "Seulgi, you can't do that, I'm begging you." Her eyebrows were furrowed in concern, she couldn't have anyone else knowing about it. "She won't harm you, I'm- I'm almost sure of it, and how would she even know you're the one who did it?"

"I don't know, Jennie, but-"

"Please, don't tell others- not yet at least," The detective insisted.

Before she could answer anything else, her phone started ringing loudly, surprising both of the girls.

_…Who ?_

Jennie could hardly hide her disappointment when she saw Jinyoung's name on the screen. Of course, she wouldn't call her, why was Jennie even hoping for her to? She took a deep breath before answering the call, hoping that it was some kind of good news, enough to reassure Seulgi at least.

" _Jennie_?" Oh, no. He sounded panicked, his breathing shallow.

"Yeah?"

" _Oh thank god you answered,_ "

"What's up…?" She asked as the other woman was looking at her with her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"It's- It's Yang," He paused for a few seconds as a feeling of dread started creeping into her mind, making goosebumps erupt all over her skin.

"He's dead."

God… no way. She knew it, knew she was right. But the timing was too odd, it couldn't be a coincidence.

" _…What? How…_ "

Was she responsible for his death?

"That's not it- I… Jennie, god." Jinyoung added, his voice was much smaller, which only increased her fear.

"What, Jinyoung?"

"There's a note with him. It says 'Can you find me?', and there's… There's a red rose with the body. You were right, and I'm so sorry."

The detective's eyes went wind at her colleague's revelation, a note, really ?! Hell, this was definitely what the text meant, she helped her. She killed Yang to prove Jennie's theory right.

But… How? How could she know about it? Was she really spying on her?

It terrified the brunette. That criminal was controlling her, basically. But why help her? What kind of person would help the police catch them? It made no sense at all, and Jennie felt even more lost than she had been before.

"Kim? Are you still here?" Jinyoung said through the phone after a few seconds, bringing Jennie out of her thoughts as she whispered a quiet ' _yes_ ', before clearing her throat.

She couldn't let fear get the best of her.

"Whatever, it's not important anyway" She added as she tried to regain her serious, "She must know we're after her, somehow. It's obvious she's just provoking us."

"So what should we do then?"

"I'll be there in ten minutes, don't touch anything until I'm there," She said, hoping she was doing a good job at hiding how excited she actually was at the thought, despite the fear and worry.

Finally a good case to work on, and her boss had no choice but to believe her at this point. Things weren't too bad for her, much better than a few days ago at least.

"Alright, be quick," Jinyoung answered her, "I really hope we can find whoever did this, it's so much worse than we thought…"

"Don't worry," The brunette smiled, "We'll find her."

"I hope you're right, Kim. I'll see you soon." He sighed on the phone, barely hiding how tired he was before hanging up.

If Seulgi had looked scared before, she seemed absolutely terrified this time. Her eyes were wide in fear and her breathing was labored, making the detective scoff. She was being over dramatic for someone working in that field, and Jennie was sure she would find a way to blame it on her.

"Don't look at me like that, please," Jennie said, her tone much calmer than it had been before as she started getting ready to leave, hoping the older woman would take the hint.

"Someone died, right? That woman you made me cry, she killed someone?"

The detective stopped in her tracks at that, slowly turning around to face Seulgi again. "Yeah."

"Fuck, I-"

"Seulgi, please." Jennie sighed deeply, "I know it's scary, but you have no reason to worry. We don't know much about her yet, but we're working on it, and we should be able to catch her soon. She's already made a big mistake. I won't ask you to do anything anymore, just pretend you don't know anything and it'll be fine, yeah?"

The older woman looked mad, obviously regretting that she accepted to help Jennie earlier that day. The brunette did regret it too, it wasn't like she had learned anything useful, anyway. But it was done, and she was closer to catch her than she had ever been. Jennie couldn't let anyone get in the way.

After a few seconds she finally nodded, still glaring at the younger girl. "You owe me one, Kim. And you're never getting me involved in your stupid shit again, I'm done. You should consider yourself lucky I'm not telling the captain about it."

"Whatever," She shook her head as she grabbed her coat that was hanging behind Seulgi, lightly shoving her in the process. "You can leave now, I have a job to do."

Seulgi scoffed but didn't answer anything this time, much to Jennie's pleasure as she only wanted to get out of there. She gave the detective one last cold look before spinning around on her heels and leaving her apartment, almost slamming the door shut as she did so which made Jennie roll her eyes.

Seulgi had been a friend, once. A good one. Until she messed everything up in her life and made everyone around her leave. Maybe she was actually just an awful person, but she didn't care anymore. Jennie knew she had lost the ability to love the second her ex fiancée told her that they needed to break up. Told her that she couldn't bare seeing her face anymore. She was bond to end up alone at some point.

She needed to solve that case. It was the only part of her life that wasn't a failure.

She'd catch that girl, she was going to win her sick game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys liked this chapter :)  
> don't forget to leave your thoughts on the story so i can know what you think of it,,


	8. chapter seven

**Jennie**

Jennie could barely hold back the shudder that went through her body at the sight of the dead body laying before her. Seven years doing that job and she still felt sick every time, she was sure it wouldn't change. Maybe it was better, though. It made her a bit more human, when she felt like she was getting further and further away from that.

Jinyoung was beside her, waiting for her to say anything, as she was analyzing the scene around them, trying to notice anything odd before they actually started moving everything around to look for clues.

The brunette cleared her throat as she crouched down next to the body, trailing her hand, that she had carefully covered with a glove, on the dead's man bare chest. "He's tied up," She noted and her partner hummed softly, following her hand with his eyes as it got closer to his neck. "And he has some mark around his neck, like someone choked him." She added as she enclosed her hand around it, following the mark, like the killer had probably done a few hours prior.

"Do you think that's how he died?"

"I don't know, we'll have to wait for the forensic report, but I doubt it. It doesn't really look like it anyway, more like..." She paused, trying to hide her disgust. "More like it was part of some kind of kinky shit. I mean, look at him." She scoffed, before getting up, facing her partner again.

"Yeah, it's... weird as fuck," He chuckled awkwardly, "If- if you were right, then it's the same woman who robbed him who killed him, right?"

"Yup, it seems likely at least."

He nodded, "Then shouldn't he had been scared? I mean, if he knew she robbed him before, then this time... I mean we don't know if she just showed up or if he contacted her, but he should've known she wasn't up to anything good ? Why let her tie him up?"

Jennie furrowed her eyebrows, staying silent for a few seconds to find a logical explanation to it, finding only one. "He doesn't look like he's been forced, not physically at least, so I guess manipulation is the way." She started, her tone dropping lower, "A lot of people become irrational when it comes to sex, human beings are weak, especially men. No offense."

"None taken," Jinyoung chuckled, and Jennie could barely hold her smile back.

"Whoever our woman is, I bet she seduces her victim to get what she wants, and it seems to work pretty well. Yang didn't look like the smartest man ever anyway, so..."

"Mh, that makes sense." He paused, looking at Jennie with a frown on his face, "Maybe we could actually use that to catch her. The dating app seemed like a failure, probably because Yang lied to us about it, but we could use a similar method. I'm sure a detective can go undercover for a while and try to pretend to be some kind of rich asshole, we'll monitor each of his move while looking for her on our own like we're currently doing, by looking for the stolen items and everything." He said, and Jennie nodded, trying not to let her partner know that the dating app had _not_ been a failure. His plan was actually not stupid, but the brunette knew better. That woman knew they were looking for her and probably wouldn't fall for such a basic trap.

It would at least serve as a distraction for both her captain and Jinyoung while she was investigating on her own. Their serial killer might be into women too, after all, or she made it seem like it in the messages she exchanged with Jennie at least. The detective was aware she was currently a _mess_ , unable to achieve anything good after her failed marriage, but she also knew she was still good looking when she put effort into it, Irene wouldn't take that away from her.

Jennie could play the seduction game too, and she would, if it was what it took to stop the woman. Her own method, the one that made the detectives completely lost and confused, was about to be her downfall. The brunette couldn't wait for it.

She nodded slowly, smiling at her partner, "You're right, this is a great plan. We can't do it with anyone who worked on ours or Mark's case though, it has to be someone we're sure she's never seen, since she seems to be aware we're looking for her. We'll have to distract her, make her believe she's a step ahead."

"I like the way you're thinking Kim." He grinned, "We still should look around tho, maybe she left something, unlike last time. I'll take the living room and you take the bedroom?" Jinyoung asked and Jennie nodded at him.

"Sounds like a good plan, tell me if you find anything,"

"Will do."

At that, he left the room, leaving Jennie alone except for a cop that was getting ready to move the dead body. She was glad she got to look around the bedroom, pretty sure that if their killer left something it'd be in there.

She started looking anywhere she could, underneath the bed, near the door, anywhere the woman might have been. Just like last time, though, she didn't seem to have any luck. It was perfectly neat, and if it wasn't for the man's dead body laying on his bed, no one could've guessed the woman paid him a visit. It made Jennie insane, how was she doing such a clean job every time ? Surely enough, at one point she'd fuck up, but they couldn't allow themselves to have any more innocent people killed.

If... the men were really innocent, that was. But that, she couldn't tell out loud. She might as well be the killer if she started thinking like this, and she was pretty sure her captain would be more than happy to incriminate her for those murders.

She had to be more careful.

After a few minutes of looking around the room, when she was close to giving up, she saw the man's vest hanging on his chair and decided to check it too. She knew they'd have to analyze it in case the woman's DNA was on it anyway, but she still wanted to check it herself.

There wasn't any hair on it, which was no surprise, but as soon as she put her hand in the pocket her finger grazed against a piece of paper. Not wanting to get her hopes up, she retrieved it discreetly, expecting to see some kind of bill or business card.

Instead, it was a white paper, the words " _Do you want to play with me, Jennie?"_ written on it with a red ink and neat handwriting. A small rose was drawn on the bottom left corner, and she could swear she smelled a woman's perfume on it too.

 _Fuck_.

Hell, no, this was bad. She was directly talking to her through these notes, and anyone could've seen it before her.

Jennie quickly hid it in her pocket, deciding not to tell anyone. If anyone were to know about it, Jennie would definitely be taken out of the case, maybe even suspended if her captain knew she had been hiding such critical information from him. She was playing a really risky game, and she was pretty sure that woman knew it and loved it.

She had least had some more info, the rose was definitely her signature, and she could find the perfume pretty easily too, which was not an insignificant clue. She was getting closer and closer to her, and the killer was playing a dangerous game too, one that she might loose.

Who would fall first?

Jennie had to find a way to contact her again, tell her she did want to play whatever game that was. She didn't have much to lose, unlike that rose lover.

Smiling innocently, Jennie made her way back to the living room where Jinyoung was, looking as loft as before, if not more. He hadn't find anything, unsurprisingly.

"Tell me you had more luck than me?" He sighed, looking at the brunette with a defeated face, and Jennie only shrugged.

"Nothing, I guess the only thing she left behind was that note you found, and the rose."

"It's already better than last time, I guess," He chuckled, his voice much lower than usual.

"Yeah." She smiled, getting closer to him and giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "We'll find her soon, don't worry."

"I hope so. This case is giving him a headache, how much worse can it get?"

"Probably not much," She shrugged, not believing her words at all.

It could, and would probably, get so, so much worse. But Jennie Kim was not one to turn down a challenge. They will catch her, whatever it takes.

***

Unsurprisingly, the day after, Jennie was exhausted as ever. She hadn't closed her eyes for a second the night before, coming back to her apartment when the sun was already starting to rise, knowing that she only had an hour to herself before having to go back to work.

She couldn't allow herself to have any break, though. She'd just have to rely on coffee, a lot of that, and hope for the best.

She had her head buried in a pile of paper, studying every single murder case that had occurred this year, in hope of finding a similar one, when she heard someone sit to her right.

She didn't even have to look up to know that it was Jisoo, probably wanting to check on her, like usual.

Jennie would lie if she said she wasn't getting tired of it. She hated feeling so weak.

"What's up?" She asked, barely hiding her exhaustion.

Jisoo sighed, "Nothing much, wanted to know how you were doing." She answered her, "You look tired."

"I am. Yang was murdered this night, pretty sure you've heard about it," She muttered, her gaze still focused on her files.

"Yeah, I did. I also heard the captain assigned you on it, again."

"Yup."

"Jen..." She sighed again, making Jennie finally look up and meet her gaze. Of course Jisoo looked concerned, again.

"What?" Her voice was cold, a tone she didn't take often with Jisoo. She loved her friend, she was probably the only person in her life she still cared about, but recently it was like the older woman only stayed with her to take care of her, which Jennie hated more than anything else. She didn't need a babysitter, she was fine. Perfectly fine.

Jisoo seemed taken aback for a second at the sudden change of mood, but didn't let it affect her as she leaned closer to the brunette, a frown on her face. "Are you sure you can manage?"

"Huh?"

"I mean," She paused for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. "Don't take it the wrong way, Jendeuk. You're strong as hell, and I admire you for keeping up with work despite... everything. But you need to rest for a while, you look like you might pass out anytime."

"Wow," Jennie breathed out, not even trying to hide how offended she was.

"You could just take some vacation or something, you've been working so much lately, I'm sure the boss will let you if you ask. You really need to take some time for yourself."

"Jisoo, no." She shook her head, not wanting to hear any of this anymore.

She didn't need a break, she wasn't- she wasn't weak. What good could it do to her anyway? She'd only think about everything even more, she'd go insane. By going to work she could at least distract herself, be useful. Did Jisoo even really care about her to request such a thing?

"I'm not going on vacation. There's a fucking serial killer on the loose, I'm close to catching her, so I'm staying here for as long as needed." She said, glaring at her friend, and Jisoo nodded slowly.

"Whatever you want, Jennie." She sighed, "But you really look exhausted as fuck. I'm worried about you."

"Don't be." Was all Jennie answered before diving back in her work, completely ignoring her friend's presence. She'd be okay, even if no one believed it. She'd prove them all wrong.

**Chaeyoung**

Chaeyoung was beaming. Finally, she could have some fun. She had been waiting for this for such a long time, she couldn't believe someone finally met her expectations.

Sure, she had to help her a little, but Chaeyoung hoped she'd be smarter next time, she craved for the feeling of danger, loved feeling on the edge of a cliff, a wrong move and she was falling down, everything would be over. The rush of adrenaline made her feel delirious, she was pretty sure she hadn't smiled like this in a while.

She was aware she was only sinking deeper and deeper into madness. But she hadn't felt more alive than during that time in a while, so why would she stop it?

She couldn't lie, she was growing obsessed with the small brunette. The way her eyes held something so fierce, yet no one seem to notice it, fooled by her innocent features. That was the problem with most people, they didn't look past the appearance, never tried to look for more. That woman had a fire inside her, but even she didn't seem aware of it. Chaeyoung would bring it out of her, let her shadow grow too.

Oh, this was going to be _so_ fun.

Chaeyoung couldn't stopped smiling at the thought, even as she was talking to her customers, or getting a new bouquet ready. Her head was all _Jennie._

Such a pretty name. Such an interesting woman.

Obviously, Yeri had noticed that Chaeyoung was all smiley, she had been for a few days already. She wasn't asking any questions anymore, knowing that the woman wouldn't answer them anyway, but Chaeyoung could tell that she enjoyed seeing her like this.

The younger had been looking at Chaeyoung working silently for a few minutes already, before scoffing softly, trying to catch her attention.

The blonde woman smiled, not looking up. "What do you want, Yeri?"

She could almost picture her smiling as soon as she said the words, making her laugh slightly.

"Nothing," She answered and the woman shook her head. What a bad liar she was.

"Are you sure?"

"Well..."

Chaeyoung finally looked up, meeting her apprentice's slightly worried gaze. She gave her a gentle smile, and the younger finally spoke up.

"I have, uh... my boyfriend coming back from abroad this Saturday, and I was wondering if... maybe, you'd let me leave work a little earlier so I could wait for him at the airport... please," She had an innocent pout on her face, making Chaeyoung scoff.

 _Really_?!

"Saturday, huh?"

"Yeah..." She looked down, "Please, Chaeyoung. It's just this one time..."Yeri, look at me."

The younger immediately obeyed, suddenly looking even more scared. Chaeyoung's tone was much colder, any warmth she held before completely gone. Her smile remained, though.

"Are you really asking to leave earlier on a Saturday? Do you realize that it's our most important day, or are you too dumb for that? Am I supposed to manage all of our customers alone?"

Chaeyoung let a low chuckle fall out her lips as she stared at the younger girl before her.

"N-no, I..."

"Right," She shook her head slowly, "Then you've got your answer."

"But..." Yeri let out a shaky breath, her eyes were shut, "It's the only time... and only one hour earlier, I... It's really important for me... Please, Chaeyoung..."

The older woman set down the flower she was holding slowly, stepping closer to Yeri until merely a few inches were between them.

She was wearing heels, like almost everyday, making her even taller in comparison to the younger. She used her finger to guide her head up so she would look into her eyes again as the brunette let out a shaky whimper.

"You're kidding, right?" Chaeyoung was still smiling but her gaze was menacing, and she could tell Yeri looked absolutely terrified. "Answer me." She added when the younger didn't answer.

"I- I, no... but, I'm sorry,"

"Right." Chaeyoung scoffed, "You're _sorry_." She released the girl stepping back. "I bet you're fucking sorry, you-"

"I am, really, I'm sorry Chaeyoung I just... I'm sorry, I'll work, it's fine." Her voice was much weaker already.

"Yeah," The woman shook her head, "Yeah, you will. You know what, I think we should leave the store open that evening, you'll work extra hours, and that's non negotiable."

"But-"

"But?"

Yeri closed her eyes, "Nothing." She breathed out. "Okay, I'll be there."

"Good girl," She chuckled. "Now go take care of our customers, gosh you really are useless huh?"

"I'm sorry. I'm going now," She answered before leaving the room quickly, her small figure still shaking slightly.

How pathetic.

Fuck, for once she was in a good mood and people already started taking advantage of that. Chaeyoung had to stay careful, she didn't want to have to do anything too extreme, it would really ruin her day, and she didn't want that.

Fucking great.

**Jennie**

Jennie had been staring at her phone for what felt like hours. She was waiting for the mysterious woman to text her again, or try to contact her in any other way, but nothing came.

She couldn't even hide her disappointment, as if someone had stood her up on a date. God, she was really becoming crazy. She knew she should feel guilty for feeling that way, but... she didn't care anymore. She only wanted to feel again. Anything would do, fear, excitement... anything. She was tired of feeling empty.

She knew she had to do something, had to find a way to catch her, or get in contact with her. Obviously the woman was smart, smarter than she had been so far, and the detective had to find an idea and quickly if she wanted this to work.

She wanted to play?

Jennie was a competitive person. Of course she'd play, and she'd win.

But what could she do...? 

There weren't too many options, Jennie knew almost nothing about that woman, except where she seemed to find her victims, in some of the wealthiest places of Seoul. Her mind immediately went back to the bar where she went to when they started investigating on Yang's case. The outcome was not the one they expected, but maybe she'd learn more there now that he was gone. Surely, the new was out already, and she knew from experience that people tended to talk more when they were scared for their own safety.

If someone had hidden anything from her before, they'd say the truth this time, she was sure of it.

Not wanting to spend a minute more in her empty apartment, she grabbed her coat and rushed out of her place, calling a taxi to be there as soon as possible. It was getting quite late, and she didn't want to interrogate drunk people.

***

As Jennie made her way inside the crowded bar, a wave of anxiety hit her, only realizing now that she had no actual idea she was doing, and no authorization to do it either. If anyone learnt that she was investigating on her own and hiding critical information from the police, the consequences would be awful, and Jennie wasn't sure she'd survive hitting a point that low in her life. She was already badly hurt, barely managing to go through the pain, how much more could she handle?

Sighing, she tried to shake the thought off, not wanting to let it affect her. She had a job to do, and if she did everything right then she wouldn't risk anything.

Maybe she only needed a glass of whisky to relax. Maybe even two. She wasn't on duty after all, she was free to do whatever she wanted.

The sun had set a while ago already, and the bar was much fuller than when she went there the first time. A loud chatter made her ears ring, she had always hated crowded places, this was no exception. She didn't feel like herself, afraid of everything around her.

The atmosphere was different, too. Much tenser, like something bad was bond to happen at any moment, and everyone knew they could be the next victim. It made goosebumps erupt all over Jennie's skins, knowing that she was responsible for this. That if she had done her job correctly, Yang would still be there, and these people would have a normal evening. It was obvious they knew what happened, yet it didn't stop them from going out apparently. They probably didn't know how much of a threat that killer was, which was probably better.

Jennie let out a low sigh as she made her way to the counter and ordered a drink for herself. She'd start talking to people later, she needed a moment to recompose herself first. However, as she started sipping on her drink slowly, the bartended gave her a strange look, getting closer to her, startling her.

" _You_ ," She read on hips lips, the noises around them too loud for the brunette to hear him clearly. She wasn't sure she wanted to, anyway.

Jennie raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to add something as he leaned even closer to her. "You're that cop who asked me questions the other day, aren't you?" He asked, and the detective perfectly heard him this time, the anger laced in his voice not going unnoticed as a shiver ran down her spine.

Hell, what had she done wrong?

"I- I guess, yeah," She breathed out, anxiety rising in her, making her heartbeat increase by the second. "Why?"

The man tilted his head to the side, his gaze colder than ice. "This girl- a fucking psycho threatened me after you came, because of you! And now the man you investigated on is dead and we have less and less customers everyday," He said through gritted teeth, and Jennie furrowed her eyebrows, ignoring the last bit of his sentence.

A woman threatened him? Could it be _her_?

"What did she look like?" She asked before taking another sip of her drink, avoiding his eyes. She heard him scoff.

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

"I'm trying to arrest a murderer." She answered, her tone much calmer than his.

"And I don't want to be _killed_."

Jennie glanced around them quickly, scared that some people were listening to their conversations. Luckily for her, everyone seemed too busy to pay attention to her.

"You might, and so will others here, if you don't tell me who was that woman who threatened you. She might be the one we're looking for." She said, finally looking up at him.

"I'm sorry," He scoffed "You don't exactly look like you're in a state to investigate. I'm just- Don't cause another mess here, or bother our customers, or I'll call the security on you."

Jennie felt her blood boil in her veins. There went her credibility, she felt ridiculous.

The man didn't wait a second more before living, probably taking another client's order, as Jennie's thoughts were rushing in her head. She didn't have many options anymore, either she managed to talk to someone discreetly and hope that they had seen something interesting, or she had went there for nothing.

She downed the remaining of her drink in one go before burying her face in her hands, trying to recompose herself, before ordering one more drink. She felt like she needed that kind of comfort, or she would go crazy.

The alcohol finally started easing her, smoothing everything around her, before she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and almost jumped at the unexpected contact, her head immediately shooting to the side to see who had done that and her heart pounding in her chest.

To her luck, it wasn't an old thirsty man, but a fairly attractive woman instead. She looked barely over thirty, with short black hair and round glasses that made her look even younger than she probably was. The woman gave her a shy smile, which Jennie immediately returned as she let her shoulder relax.

"Can I help you?" Jennie asked, internally cringing at how weak her voice sounded.

"Actually, I think I can help you." The woman answered, her voice soft as she shifted closer to the detective. The latter had a frown on her face, not having a clue as of where this was going.

_Was she flirting, or…?_

"I'm really sorry, I know that's like- super impolite, but I heard what you and that guy talked about earlier and… This is about that man who's been murdered around here, right? Wasn't his name Yang or something?"

_Oh._

Jennie gulped, she should've been more discrete. "Yeah… How do you know about it?"

"Everyone is talking about it." She chuckled, "Are you really a cop?"

"I'm a detective."

"Ah, right." The black haired woman nodded, "And you're investigating on it? That's so cool."

Jennie held back a laugh at this. _Cool_ wasn't the first word she would've used to describe her current job. This woman was a little bit too nosy for her, though, and she knew she had to stop this conversation before she'd accidentally reveal too much.

"This is none of your business, tho" The brunette answered, trying to keep her tone cold so the girl wouldn't try to know more and just go away. She released a small chuckle and the brunette could swear she was leaning even closer to her.

"What if I know something you don't?" Her voice was much more seductive than before, almost teasing, and Jennie perked up at her words.

"And what would that be?"

The woman smiled, backing down a little as a blush spread on her cheeks. "Probably not much, but… I used to know him. Kinda. He was a real asshole."

Jennie scoffed, she was really… _forward_.

"Is that so?"

"Mh. I have some stuff on him at my place if you want to see, I'm sure it could interest you." She added with a smirk, "He used to come here often, and so do I, so…"

The detective shook her head. This felt too good to be true, but… This was all that she had, and the alcohol she had just drank was starting to get to her head. She probably should've eaten something before.

"Sure then, can I come by tomorrow?"

"Oh," The woman laughed, "I was thinking we could go now, actually."

 _Now?!_ Was she serious..?

Hell, Jennie knew something was off, but… She was kind of desperate, and didn't have much too loose anyway, so…

"Oh, okay." She shrugged, trying not to let out her surprise. "I'm following you then."

The woman didn't answer this time, only smiled at the detective before taking her hand and dragging her outside the bar. Everything was blurry around them, and Jennie really couldn't shake off the bad feeling that crept inside her head.

She was following a woman she didn't know, somewhere she did know, all while looking for a serial killer who _just_ so happened to be a woman who apparently loved to spend her time around there. This was bad. Really bad.

The woman was bringing her toward a parking lot when Jennie suddenly stopped, making the black haired woman do the same thing as she looked at her weirdly.

"What's up?"

"I just…"

Oh, god. Jennie felt sick.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To my place?" The woman answered as she stepped closer, her hand now on Jennie's bare arm, stroking it softly. She was slightly taller than Jennie, forcing the brunette to look up to meet her gaze.

"Can't you just tell me here?" She stuttered out, feeling her confidence drop by the second.

The black haired woman only laughed before bringing Jennie closer to her, and before the brunette knew it her lips were on hers, surprising Jennie.

_What was happening?_

As soon as the detective realized what she was doing, she pushed her away, slightly panting as she gave her a weird look. "What the fuck?"

The woman laughed, her cheeks flushed, "What?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Did you really think I was bringing you to my place to do anything else?"

"I…"

Jennie would lie if she said she didn't feel stupid. It had been far too long since she'd been with anyone, she didn't know what to do at all.

She wasn't sure she wanted it.

"C'mon, I didn't know how else to approach you." She said with a smile, and Jennie stepped back, feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"A simple hey could've worked," She let out an awkward chuckle.

The woman took a step forward, her gaze felt too dangerous, and the brunette knew that she should probably just run away while she still had the chance to, but she couldn't, like something was keeping her there, preventing her to move as the taller woman kept on stepping closer to her until only a few inches were separating them. She could practically feel her breath against her face and nearly flinched at this.

Maybe she was just being dramatic for no reason. That woman probably had no ill intention, just poor flirting skills. It wasn't like Jennie looked really approachable anyway, if the woman had really just greeted her with a ' _hey_ ' she knew would've ignored her.

Still, the whole situation felt _bad,_ and she couldn't just get rid of the fear that was growing and growing inside her as the woman used her finger to pry Jennie's head up to kiss her on the lips once more. She felt too weak to fight it back this time, and only let it happen, trying to ignore how sick it made her feel.

Before their lips could meet, though, she felt the woman's body suddenly be pulled back and her eyes shot open.

Another woman was there, long blonde hair cascading down her back and a mask covering half of her face, and Jennie completely froze. Her face felt familiar, but she couldn't recall where she'd seen her. Then again, the street was barely lit up, and the brunette was drunk, so she might just be delusional.

"Is everything okay?" The stranger asked and Jennie nodded slowly, though she wasn't sure that she'd seen her.

"Yeah, we were having a private _moment_. Maybe you should just mind your fucking business and leave us alone." The black haired woman spat out, and the other one only scoffed.

Jennie couldn't do or say anything.

"Your friend didn't seem so happy though." She said, and Jennie could swear she saw the other's jaw clench at that. "Am I wrong?" She added as she turned to the brunette and Jennie's eyes widened.

"I…"

What was she supposed to answer ?

"I don't know," She stuttered out, and the blonde girl nodded slowly.

"If you don't have any problem then I'll leave you alone, sorry." She said, her tone much colder than it had been a few seconds prior. "Be careful, Jennie." She said before turning around and walking away, leaving the two women alone and confused.

Then, Jennie's mind went blank.

Had she called her Jennie? How…

No, no. She must've dreamt that part. How in hell could that stranger know her name? It made no sense at all.

Oh god, nothing really made sense. Maybe she just shouldn't have went out at all, nothing good seem to come out of that evening.

When the black haired girl took a step forward again and tried to reach for Jennie's hand, the latter only shook her head and stepped back.

"I think I should just leave," She breathed out.

"But-"

"I'm sorry."

Before she could answer anything, Jennie spun around on her heels and left quickly, rushing to another busier street where she'd feel safer.

God, she was a mess. Everything was a mess.


	9. chapter eight

**Jennie**

Jennie woke up with a loud groan as she tried to open her eyes, only to shut them close a second later as she found her room, although her curtains were closed, was too bright for her. Her head was throbbing, and she felt like the whole world was spinning.

She really needed to stop drinking. As often as these kind of mornings occurred, especially in the past month, she couldn't get used to it, nor to the way her stomach was twisting painfully. She felt too sick to move. She had to, though, as it was a little past seven in the morning and she was already late for work, and the brunette wasn't going to give her boss one more reason to hate her.

What had even happened the evening before?

The detective slowly sat up, massaging her temple to ease the pain as she tried to recall the event that had led to her drinking so much.

She didn't have to think for too long, she perfectly remembered going to the bar to investigate on her serial killer, yet not finding out much. She then remembered how that woman had tried seducing her… had lied to her to get her ways with her.

Jennie felt disgusted by this, even… even quite mad at herself. How could she fall for such a silly trap? Maybe that woman didn't want to hurt her, but it didn't make the fact that she had manipulated her to get her home better, at all.

Hell, Jennie was a detective, had been for years, she was supposed to be smarter than that. Especially when there was a serial killer on the loose who kept on trying to outsmart her.

…and succeeded in doing so, too.

The brunette then felt a wave of dread hit her as a frown made its way to her face.

There had been another woman that evening, who had tried to protect her…?

Jennie wasn't even sure anymore. She did remember her using her name, even though she was sure she didn't know who that person was. And… was that a warning? She told her to be careful, right? Or was that just Jennie's mind playing tricks on her?

God, she didn't even know, her mind felt foggy and as hard as she tried, she couldn't remember what happened exactly, only some flashes remained. This was so unprofessional of her, she might have seen -or even met- the criminal she was looking for, yet she had drunk too much to remember it.

Jennie knew she needed to get herself together, she couldn't let something like that happen again, couldn't let people play with her so easily. She had to regain control over the situation and over herself before she got in trouble.

Finally finding the strength to get up, the brunette made a promise to herself.

This was a new day, and a new time for her. She'd never let anyone abuse her so easily again, she'd take control, will act confidently, and catch that murderer.

***

It was eight and two minutes when Jennie arrived at work, and she prayed that her captain hadn't noticed her absence during this short time. Fortunately, he wasn't at her desk waiting for her with his usual sly smile, so she figured she had gotten there just in time. Perfect. She was way too exhausted and hangover to deal with him.

Everyone seemed pretty busy already, and she quickly spotted Jinyoung in the corner of her eyes talking with their Lieutenant, probably about their case.

It had gotten much more serious, and everyone was aware of that. She knew many people talked about them, probably not in the best of ways as Jennie knew she didn't have that many friends there, she wouldn't be surprised if they doubted her abilities to catch the killer.

She scoffed, if only they knew.

She saw Jisoo on her right, too. The black haired girl seemed to have noticed her as well as she gave her a small smile, probably waiting for her to come say hi and chat like they were used to. Except this time, Jennie was busy, and definitely not in the mood to deal with her friend pitying her. She knew she had done a poor job at hiding the dark circles underneath her eyes, and her friend would probably be able to tell she had drunk the night before. It was best to just avoid her.

Bringing her head up, Jennie made her way to Jinyoung's desk, her partner almost immediately noticing her and joining her there as she sat down on one of the chair.

"Rough night?" He asked, making Jennie chuckle lowly.

"Kinda, yeah. Have we made any progress since yesterday?" She said, deciding to change the subject quickly. She couldn't let him know what had actually happened that evening, had to keep the secret.

He shrugged, a small grin on his face. "Not really, or we don't have anything new at least. But we got everything ready for our… strategy, and one of our guy is already undercover. The captain's quite pissed about it because it costs us sooo much and we don't have so much fund, so I really hope it works."

"I'm sure it will," Jennie smiled.

"What about you? Anything exciting? Any new plans?"

"Uh yeah about a new plan, no about it being exciting. We're going to look around in some flower shops to see if they have a… regular customers who particularly like red roses, it's our only clue since that woman doesn't seem to want to sell the stuff she has stolen, so… yeah."

Jinyoung chuckled, "Gosh, how much time will it even take to do that?"

"At least the whole day," The brunette answered, barely fighting her smile as her partner let out a low sigh.

"Today's gonna fun huh."

"At least we have something to do, right?"

" _Yay_."

**Chaeyoung**

Chaeyoung bopped her head to the rhythm of the music that she had carefully chosen in her playlist. Not too upbeat, but not depressing either. Just perfect to fit her current mood.

She couldn't help but slightly dance around to it as she cooked herself breakfast, even singing some of the parts despite not remembering all of the lyrics. She could improvise anyway, and her lyrics were by far better than the original ones.

She had woken up feeling light as ever, like she had gotten a whole day of sleep before, and felt like nothing could get to her. It had been a while since she'd feel so joyful, careless, and it felt so good. She couldn't get enough of the feeling.

Then, a new song started playing, and the blonde girl almost squealed at how perfect her playlist was. God, she had such a good taste in music. Giving up on her scrambled eggs she started dancing to the music, not caring about her surrounding anymore as she let it invade her, let her body move freely to the rhythm.

If anyone walked in on her, they'd probably think that she was crazy, but she really didn't care one bit. So what if she was completely insane? What would they do about it?

She couldn't hold back the giggle that left her lips as she kept on dancing to the beat.

_"you can turn me on with just a touch, baby,"_

She sang along, the wide grin never leaving her lips as she was still moving swiftly around her kitchen, picking up a few items.

_"Ooh, I'm blinded by the lights, mh I can't sleep until I feel your touch,"_

The blonde mumbled, finishing picking up the food she had managed to cook before going back to her living room where her laptop was waiting. Chaeyoung slumped down on her couch, still bopping her head slightly as she started munching on a toast before letting out a low moan at the taste.

People could say anything they wanted about expensive, gastronomic food, but there was truly nothing better than simple things like those.

Would Jennie like to have breakfast with her like this? Oh, Chaeyoung really hoped she liked to cook too. Not that she'd let her to all the chores on her own, she wasn't a useless man, but she did want a girl who could make some nice meals for her.

Whatever, she'd have her take some cooking lessons if necessary.

The music came to an end, a slower song starting after, and Chaeyoung decided that it was time for her to get to work as she picked up her laptop and started typing out the so familiar name.

His profile immediately flashed on the screen? It wasn't the first time that the woman was looking at it, far from that, but she was hoping that she could get some more interesting info about him.

A shiver ran down her smile as she clicked on the new profile picture he had set. He was with his wife and kid. Both of them seemed way too young for him. She felt sick.

She guessed he hadn't change in all those years. It'd make the job easier, at least.

Shaking her head, she tried to put on a smile again, not wanting to let it affect her any more. She was past all of this, and that night she would make things right again.

She had waited for this moment to come for too long already.

**Jennie**

Jennie released a loud sigh as they stepped inside the nth flower shop. They had been on it all day with no success, and she was exhausted as ever. God, she really needed to try to sleep more, she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold on like that.

This one wasn't really different than any other one they visited, except maybe for the bigger choice of roses. The brunette tried not to get her hopes up, though. It probably didn't mean anything. There weren't many customers which both of the detectives were thankful for, at least they could interrogate the seller in peace.

Jennie spotted one almost immediately, after taking a quick look around the shop she figured that she was working alone that day. She looked pretty young though, which surprised her.

"Hello? Can I help you?" The girl asked when she noticed Jennie's presence, and the latter only smiled at her, glancing down at the badge that was hanging around her neck.

"I think you can." The brunette said, noticing the name tag on the girl's blouse. "Yeri?"

" _Oh_ ," Her eyes widened, making both of the detective chuckles, "Sure, um, did I do anything wrong…?"

"No, don't worry, we aren't here for you." Jinyoung said with a grin, and the girl's shoulder seemed to relax at this.

"We'd just like to ask you a few questions, if that's okay with you?"

"Oh, uh, of course. Go ahead."

Jennie gave her a gentle smile before getting her notepad out. She knew she had to go easy on the girl, she didn't look so comfortable around them.

"Do you have a regular client who often buy roses from you?" Jinyoung asked, and the girl, Yeri, furrowed her eyebrows.

"Uh, I think so? I mean, roses are like our best selling items, so…"

"We're looking for a woman." Jennie added, "Probably between.. twenty and fifty, who often buys a single red rose. Does that remind you of anyone?"

The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry, not really. I mean I guess some women came to buy that, but I don't think we've had one in particular who buys it often."

"It's okay," Jinyoung said and Jennie nodded. She wasn't expecting anything anyway.

"I can ask my boss when she comes back though, she probably knows better?"

"That would be great." Jennie said, before her gaze dropped to the young girl's upper arm. It was partly hidden under her teeshirt, but the brunette could swear she saw a bruise there. A frown instantly made its way to her face, "Are you okay?"

Yeri seemed to notice where the detective was looking as she quickly covered it with her hand, nodding hastily at her words. "Yeah, of course I am." She smiled, "Do you have any more questions?"

"Uh, no, I think we're good," Jinyoung answered, his eyebrows scrunched down in confusion at her sudden strange behavior.

"Just," Jennie quickly scribbled something on her notepad before tearing the piece of paper and giving it to her. "Call me if you have anything new, okay?"

The young girl nodded, before turning around and walking toward another customer.

"Well… still nothing." Jinyoung sighed and Jennie nodded, though her mind was still focused on the girl.

"Yeah…"

"Only ten shops left to go."

"Mh."

"Kim?"

"What?" She turned around, her attention back to her partner as he shook her head.

"Nothing. Let's just go, we still have work to do."

***

Jennie let out a low groan as her back finally hit her bed. She had waited for this moment to come all day long, there wasn't one part of her body that wasn't hurting. She really needed to sleep, and for once, she hoped that her dark thoughts wouldn't prevent her from doing so.

That day had been another failure. Jennie hoped that at least one person would've helped them, but no one seem to remember seeing that woman. The brunette wished she had least had any idea of what she looked like, but she knew absolutely _nothing_.

If only Yang hadn't been such a useless asshole, maybe they could've a better idea of who they were looking for.

Oh, well. He got his lesson in the end.

Jennie stayed there for a few more minutes, laying on her bed as she stared at her ceiling, as if the face of the woman would appear on it. What had she missed? There had to be something she could do to find her.

As if someone heard her, a loud ringing sound brought her out of her daze, and she immediately rushed to the living room to pick up her phone.

She instantly froze.

It was an unknown number, which probably meant one thing.

Jennie didn't hesitate for one second before pressing the _Record_ button on her phone and answered the call, her heartbeat already incredibly fast.

_"Good evening, detective. Had a nice day?"_

The brunette shivered at the voice. It was… nothing like she had expected her to sound like. Her tone was joyful and bright, and she sounded quite young. It didn't sound like she was using any software to change her voice either.

She was way too confident for Jennie's liking.

"What do you want?"

 _"Aren't you even going to say hi? That's rude, Jennie."_ The woman scoffed on the other side of the phone, and Jennie sighed.

She needed to be careful if she wanted her to talk.

She had to regain power. Had to be the one in control.

_"I did have a nice day," Jennie finally said, trying to control her voice. "Quite boring though."_

_"Oh"_ The woman chuckled, _"That's nice to hear."_

"Yeah. What... what about you?"

_"Oh my, thanks for asking! My day was really fun actually. I had some cake earlier at this coffee shop, it was really delicious, you should go there someday, definitely recommend!"_

Jennie wanted to throw up.

How sick was this woman? How could she not feel one bit of remorse, or fear, or anything? Hell, the detective had seen some psychopaths, but just hearing this girl talk made goosebumps erupt all over a skin.

"That's..., uh, that's great, where is it?" The brunette gulped.

 _"Oh I'll just text you the address don't worry about it."_ She said, and Jennie could perfectly hear the smile in her voice. _"Are you not going to ask why I called you?"_

The brunette wanted to scream.

She felt like she was just being toyed with, and hated every bit of it.

Jennie wasn't going to let her win this.

"No, I wanted to know how you were doing," Jennie said as she made her way to her kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.

Just one glass, this time.

The woman laughed on the other side of the phone, and although it kind of scared the detective, it also made her heart beat faster in.... another way.

Maybe that fact scared her even more.

_"How sweet of you."_

"Mh. You have a pretty voice, by the way."

Jennie swore to herself that she was telling her this only because it was part of her strategy, not because she actually meant it.

_"Oh come on, Jennie, flattery will get you nowhere,"_

"No," Jennie said, fighting her own smile. God, she shouldn't be enjoying this that much, this was wrong in _so_ many levels. "I really mean it, I swear."

The line went silent for a few seconds, and Jennie feared that she had messed up.

She downed the remaining of her drink quickly, hoping that this would slow down all the thoughts that were rushing in her head in that moment.

Finally, the woman spoke up again, and Jennie completely froze,

"Well then, thank you. And... you were really pretty today detective. You should keep your hair down though."

Jennie's breath hitched. "I- I will."

"I love your wrists too, they're so tiny." She chuckled. "I wonder how they'd look tied up with a pretty ribbon. You'd be so cute. All for myself,"

_God._

Jennie shivered in dread. She did think about death, more than once, but she didn't want to die like _that._

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

"t...tied up?"

Jennie hated how quickly she lost her composure. The fact that she could actually be in danger, be that woman's next victim only now hitting her.

A loud laugh suddenly started her, and she was sure her heart actually stopped beating for a few seconds.

_"I was just kidding, detective. I'm not after you, well- unless...."_

She paused for a few seconds and Jennie bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming.

 _She_ was supposed to be the one in control.

 _"Never mind, this isn't why I called you. Someone wants to say hi,"_ The woman said and Jennie's mind went blank.

Someone? So she wasn't working alone, or...?

"Who?" Jennie asked, even though she knew it was most likely useless. If she wanted her to know, she would tell her. The detective didn't feel like she had much power over what was happening.

 _"An old friend of mine."_ She said, and Jennie could perfectly hear the smile in her voice. " _Say hi!"_

The voice seemed more distant, so the brunette figured she was talking to her _friend_ this time.

Instead of listening to her, though, the person only let out a muffled groan, making the detective clutch her empty glass tightly. There was also some shuffling noises on the other side of the phone, making Jennie understand that that person was not a friend, but another victim.

Hell, no. All this time she had been talking to her while someone's life was potentially at risk.

"Who is this?" Jennie asked through gritted teeth, and the woman giggled again.

 _"I told you already. An old friend of mine. He's been really mean to me,"_ She said, faking a sad tone. _"So I'm being a little mean too, as a revenge."_

"Please don't." Jennie said, panic taking over her. "Please don't do this, leave this man alone, I-"

_"Aw, I thought you were on my side Jennie. I'm hurt, really."_

The brunette took a deep breath. "I am on your side."

_"Is that so?"_

Jennie hummed, ignoring the way her stomach clenched.

The woman didn't say anything after, just chuckled, and before the detective could ask anything, she heard a loud scream and shut her eyes closed, her breathing quickening.

 _"Glad to hear that."_ She finally heard after a few agonizingly longseconds. The woman was panting.

"What did you do?"

_"Something really bad detective, you should come arrest me..."_

Psycho.

"I don't want to arrest you."

_"You're such a bad liar."_

"Did you kill that man?"

_"Oh I sure did."_

Jennie wanted to throw up.

"Why?"

_"I told you. He did mean things to me."_

She took a deep breath. "What mean things? Did he abuse you? We can help you, you know?"

That wasn't a lie.

Well... she wanted to help. She knew the police never did much for them.

 _"No, that's a lie and you know that."_ The woman laughed. _"But if you want to help me Jennie... You'll have to be a really good girl and listen to what I say."_

The detective gulped. This was only a strategy.

...She didn't believe that anymore, to be completely honest.

"I will."

 _"Good. It was a pleasure talking to you detective, but I really have to go now, you should get moving quickly too."_ She chuckled, and Jennie's breath hitched.

"Wait!"

_"What?"_

"Can I- Can I at least know your name?"

Jennie could almost feel the woman smile on the other side of the phone.

_"You can call me Rosé."_

Not even a second later, the woman hung up, and Jennie fell to her knees, a tear rolling down her cheek.

She had participated in a man's death, hid critical information from her superiors and partner, sympathized with a serial killer who clearly had issues.

And she didn't even feel too guilty. Actually, she kind of felt excited. It made her feel sick.

What was she becoming?


	10. chapter nine

**Jennie**

Jennie felt numb. She stared at the dead body before her, completely emotionless, as if her soul had left her body and she was left completely empty, drained.

She felt her partner come beside her, barely even flinching when he put his hand on her shoulder like she usually would've. "You okay?" He asked, his tone gentle. He had probably noticed the state she was in.

"Yeah," Jennie breathed out, not moving her gaze from the dead man. "I am."

She had sat on her kitchen floor for what felt like hours, but was probably not even half one, before receiving a call from her captain, telling her that another man had been found dead in his hotel room.

It didn't take a second for Jennie to figure out that it was the one she _heard_ dying a few moments ago.

She felt relieved, to be entirely honest, that they had found him so soon. She couldn't tell anyone about the call, about _Rosé_. But she couldn't stand the thought of going to work the day after knowing that someone had been murdered without doing anything about it. She had chosen that job to protect people.

She didn't feel the same kind of anger as before, though. Instead, she was rather confused. Who was this woman and what was driving her to do that? She said it was a revenge, so what had these men done?

"How do you think he died?" Jinyoung asked after a few seconds, breaking the heavy silence, and Jennie shrugged, turning to face him.

"He has some marks around his neck, like the last one. But it looks like he's been strangled with a wire or something."

"Yeah, I thought so too. D'you think it's the same person who did that?"

Jennie sighed. "I don't know. Could be, the setting is the same, even if the cause of death isn't. We'll wait for the forensic's report anyway."

Jinyoung only hummed, crouching down next to the chair where the body was tied. "This woman is a real freak." He said, and Jennie shook her head sideways, even though he couldn't see her.

"Yeah." She answered, "Yeah, I guess she is."

Before any of them could say another word, the room suddenly went dead silent, all of the cops that were in the room now staring at the door, and both of the detectives turned around to see what had provoked such a reaction from them.

The brunette gulped when she saw her captain standing in the entrance of the hotel room, his gaze, colder than ever, directed right at her as a shiver went down her spine.

What was he even doing here?

He wasn't supposed to visit the crime scene, Jennie wasn't sure she could handle even more pressure put on her. She was barely even holding on.

He didn't say a thing, only gestured to her and Jinyoung to follow him outside, which they did without saying a word, both knowing that arguing now was useless.

"What are you even doing, Kim? Huh?" He spat out as soon as they were alone, not even sparing a glance at her partner, and the detective did everything she could not to break at his words.

She was exhausted, still shaken from the call.

She could only stay strong for so long.

"I…"

"No, no don't say a word." He cut her off, "How many people have to die before you learn how to do your job? Do I need to suspend you to get a reaction from you?"

Jennie stayed silent, too afraid to say anything wrong. She knew he wanted her gone more than anything, any wrong step and it was all over. But she wasn't a bad detective, even if he loved to claim otherwise.

Jinyoung seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before speaking up, catching their captain's attention, much to the brunette's pleasure. "Sir, with all due respect, we're doing everything we can already."

"Then maybe I should just replace you two?" He said, and Jennie shook her head hastily.

"No, don't." She took a deep breath, "I- Our killer made a wrong move by killing this man in a hotel, there are much more security cameras, probably more potential witnesses too. I'm sure we'll find her soon."

He took a step closer to her at her words, making her gulp loudly, before pointing a finger at her, right above her chest. "I hope you're right Kim. For your own sake, I really do."

Jennie shivered as his finger made contact with her bare skin before retreating, feeling bile rise in her throat. There was no word to describe how much she despised that man, and it seemed like her hatred for him only grew each day.

How much longer could she stand this? All of this?

Hell, Jennie hadn't even been working there for ten years yet, was she supposed to stay like that for her whole life?

She'd probably go mad.

Without saying another word, their captain spun around and left, leaving the two detectives speechless and confused as ever.

And as she looked at him disappear, Jennie couldn't help but wonder,

Who was truly the enemy?

***

The report on that man dead caught Jennie by surprise.

She was sitting in front of her desk, staring at it as if it could give her the answer she was waiting for.

He had been drugged, like all of the other victims, but it wasn't what had killed him. He had been strangled, like both Jennie and Jinyoung presumed, and died from that before the drugged could have an actual effect, except maybe weakening him, making the job easier for her.

Why was he different, though?

Obviously, it had crossed Jennie's mind that the man Rosé killed during their phone call wasn't the one they'd just found, but it took only a quick search to prove that theory wrong. The phone used by the woman was the victim's phone, she had probably took it with her though, fortunately.

Jennie wouldn't know what she'd do if they found out that the last person this man had contacted on his phone was herself.

It didn't make sense to the brunette, at all.

That woman, Rosé, was careful. She obviously liked to take risk, given that she kept on contacting Jennie, who was the detective working on her case, but it seemed like it was calculated. Jennie was pretty sure that she had studied her before doing all that.

It made her feel quite weird, not only in a bad way, which was probably worst.

Why would she take so many unnecessary risks by following that man in a hotel room, break the pattern by strangling him instead of just drugging, all that why calling Jennie?

Jinyoung was currently busy checking all of the CCTV footage from that night, which for once hadn't been off during the murder. Was that a mistake, or was it calculated too?

It drove Jennie crazy.

Surely enough, in no time, they'd have an idea of what that woman looked like, and the brunette wasn't sure how to feel about it.

Part of her felt like it was a trap.

Part of her felt like it was the mistake they had been waiting for her to do for so long, and that they'd finally be able to catch her.

Part of her wasn't sure she wanted Rosé to be caught. Even much less sure that she wanted their _game_ to end like that.

Shaking her head, Jennie tried to focus back on her task. She couldn't let all of it get to her, she couldn't allow herself to lose her job. Not bearing staying still for a minute more, she got up and made her way to the archive room. She knew what she needed to look up.

***

Fortunately, it didn't take the detective too long to find what she was looking for, and she wasn't disappointed by it.

The victim's name was Nathan Stewart, an Australian businessman in his mid forties who often came to Seoul for his job. He had a wife, a young son. Had been married and divorced twice before.

None of this really interested Jennie, though. What she found more relevant to the case were the two lawsuit that had been filed against him for sexual assault during his time in South Korea. None of them lead to anything, lack of evidences apparently. This didn't really surprise the brunette, though it didn't make her any less mad.

She knew she couldn't allow herself to feel happy after a human being's death, but… She already felt much less remorse than she did before. He was an awful person, apparently played with the wrong woman.

Served him right.

Jennie thought that this was a new lead she could follow. Maybe Rosé wasn't after rich men, or their money. Maybe she was only seeking revenge from people like him.

Maybe she wasn't that bad of a person.

 _No_.

Jennie shook her head, no. She couldn't think that. Rosé was a serial killer, for god's sake! Jennie couldn't start liking a criminal.

It didn't even help that now the brunette had a name to put on her, it made her much more human, and made Jennie way more confused. She didn't know what she would do once she knew what she looked like.

She'd probably go completely insane.

She quickly made her way to Jinyoung's desk, where he was still inspecting the videos from that evening, and gave him the files she had gathered on the victim.

Jinyoung gave her a confused look before taking a quick look at the files, his eyes widening as he did so. "What is it?"

"Proof that our victim's a piece of shit." She said as she sat down beside him. "What do you think of this?"

He took a few more seconds to inspect the document before sighing. "You took she was one of the woman he assaulted?"

Jennie nodded. "It's very likely, I mean there aren't even that many women who report sexual assaults, so if this man has two of those reported… He might have assaulted much more girls than we know."

"But he's the only one, right? I mean, i get where you're coming from Jen, really, but isn't it… I mean it's not really enough?"

A low sigh fell out Jennie's lips. Right, she couldn't tell him about what she had said. About the revenge.

"Maybe not, but I don't think we can ignore that… But fine, I won't focus on it, you're right." She finally admitted. "Anyways, made any progress?" She quickly changed the topic, knowing that she had to keep that new lead to herself for now.

"Yeah," He said, and Jennie instantly perked up. Jinyoung had a smug grin plastered on his face. "I think she went in his room disguised as a maid. I mean, that's the only person who went there that night besides him." He said as he showed Jennie the image on his computer screen.

Unfortunately, the angle of the camera was quite awkward, and her face wasn't shown on the video at all.

"I was looking through the other footage to see if we can see her face at one point, but I didn't have much luck so far." He said as if he had read her mind and the brunette nodded.

"Alright then… I'll leave you alone for now, but good job Jinyoung." She gave him a small smile which he returned before focusing back on his screen, and Jennie took this as her cue to leave.

She knew what she needed to do now anyway. She finally felt like she was following the right path.

  
Only a few minutes later, Jennie was getting ready to leave to meet someone who might finally give her some answers.

When she turned around to leave, though, her eyes met dark, familiar ones.

She had to be dreaming.

This couldn't…

Irene was standing there, and Jennie was completely paralyzed.

She didn't know what she was doing there, didn't really care either. All that was in her mind in that moment was that it was the first time since their break up that the two of them were standing in the same room, and that Jennie had been waiting for that moment to happen every second since then.

She didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream at her. She wanted to cry, to hug her, to feel her close to her again.

The brunette felt like the world around her was disappearing, and she wasn't sure of what she was supposed to do at all. She had been wanting this for so long, a chance to talk to her, to tell her what she was feeling, and it felt like nothing else mattered for a moment.

God. What was Jennie even supposed to do?

She couldn't lose that occasion, it might be the last time she'd see her.

But would she be able to say a word to her without completely breaking?

Jennie was already drained, how much more could she handle?

What should she do…?

Shaking her head, Jennie let out a slow sigh. She knew she'd probably get hurt, but she couldn't lose that chance. This might be the last time Irene would agree to see her…

If she did agree, that was.

But Jennie knew her, and as much as she hated her now, she knew the woman wouldn't want to cause a scene in front of everyone. She had to listen to her.

The detective started walking towards the older girl with thoughts racing in her mind. What should she tell her? Should she apologize? Get mad at her?

Hell, Jennie didn't even know what she was feeling.

Before she could think too much about it though, she was in front of her ex fiancée, the latter glaring at her like she had killed her whole family.

"H-hey," Jennie started shyly before clearing her throat. "What are you doing here...?"

Irene frowned. "I'm here to see Seulgi, don't flatter yourself. Since when are you working on Saturdays anyway?"

"I have nothing better to do." Jennie only answered, trying not to show the woman how much her words kept on hurting her. This was a terrible idea.

"Right, that's not so surprising."

"Joohyun... can we talk? Please,"

The older woman looked into her eyes for a split second before rolling them. "Why would I do that?"

"Because... I just, I promise I'll never bother you after. I just need to talk to you, please." She said, not caring anymore about how weak she looked. "Just let me have that."

Irene sighed, but eventually nodded. "I'm giving you five minutes Jennie, and if it's just to beg me to comeback then just don't waste my time."

"It's not. Thank you."

"Let's go outside then," Irene said, "Not fond of having a public."

"Yeah sure, go ahead I'm following you."

Jennie wished she could say she was relieved, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that was creeping inside her soul. This felt bad, and she knew she'd regret it.

But this was her only chance of finally getting the closure she was so despairingly craving for, and maybe even move on, even though she wasn't sure that was possible.

Screw her dignity, she needed answers.

***

"You wanted to talk," Irene started, her tone cold. "Then go ahead."

"I just want to know why." Jennie sighed, fidgeting with her hands, before looking up into the woman's eyes.

"Why what?"

"Why you left me. Why you hate me. What have I done wrong Hyun?" The brunette wished her voice wasn't shaking so hard, Irene must find her pathetic, but she felt too drained to control it.

"I told you that, already." She said, shaking her head faintly. "I was tired of coming after your job, and I don't hate you Jennie. I just grew tired, that's it, it happens. People fall out of love all the time."

The detective let out a shaky breath, "But it just doesn't happen like that, I-" Jennie closed her eyes for a second, trying to regain her composure so she wouldn't break in tears in front of her. "Everything was going well? I thought you were okay with me working so much, I mean- that's how I was when we met anyways? It's not like I just started working so much to annoy you one day, you always knew I was like this and still fell in love with me. It just doesn't make sense to me."

An awkward silence fell between them, and Irene looked away, making the brunette's heart clench painfully.

The city noises around them seemed too loud all of the sudden, making breathing become harder and harder for Jennie as she felt her lungs tighten from the panic.

"Do you want me to tell you the truth, then?"

Irene's voice was so low Jennie almost missed it. Maybe she should've pretended she did.

"Please."

It took a few more painfully slow seconds for her ex-fiancée to react.

"I had someone else, Jennie."

"...what?"

Jennie felt her whole world shattering.

She had been heartbroken when Irene left her so suddenly, not understanding why everything changed between them so suddenly.

The thought that the love of her life had actually fell out of love way before Jennie even realized it, maybe even started hating her when they were still together and planning their wedding, made the brunette's head spin.

She couldn't find the strength to look up or even hold back her tears anymore. Her arms crossed against her chest tightly and her nails digging into her palms, she mumbled out, "For how long."

"Over a year now."

Irene's voice seemed emotionless, as if she hadn't just broken Jennie's heart. As if she didn't care.

Over a year. They had broken up two months ago.

"I just couldn't keep on lying to you anymore." She added when Jennie didn't answer, and the brunette couldn't stand it anymore.

She took a step back and glared at the older woman. "Are you fucking kidding me?! You couldn't keep on lying?! You fucking- You cheated on me for a year Irene! A fucking year, we were about to get married for fuck sake, how could you even-"

"This was exactly why I didn't tell you, Jennie. You asked for this." Irene scoffed, and Jennie felt like things couldn't get worse than they were.

"Am I really that bad of a person, huh? For you to play me like that? Hate me so much?" Jennie took a deep breath. "What the fuck have I done to you for you to treat me like this?"

"You just don't care about anything!" The woman almost shouted, obviously growing annoyed. "All you were talking about was work, how your boss is such a dick, how it's so hard and- I couldn't carry our relationship on my own Jen! I'm sorry, alright, I know what I did is wrong, but you didn't make it easy for me either! Don't make me the bad person is when you basically abandoned me years ago. I just can't deal with this."

At every word the older woman said, Jennie felt a piece of her shattering, until she was left with nothing. She wished the floor could just her swallow her whole, wished that she could just stop existing.

She knew she hadn't been the best girlfriend ever.

She didn't know she was so terrible.

Irene took a deep breath before looking into Jennie's eyes again. "Your time's up, Jennie. I'm sorry, really, I wish things were easier. I hope you find someone else." She said, and before the brunette could even register her words the woman was gone.

Jennie was broken.

**Chaeyoung**

Chaeyoung felt like absolutely nothing could get to her.

She had all the power she needed and wanted, was in complete control of the situation, and on top of everything, she wasn't left disappointed by her pretty brunette.

She couldn't get her face out of her mind anymore, it haunted her daily; even while she was busy with other people her head was all Jennie.

She couldn't wait to make her hers.

As Chaeyoung looked at the people passing by on the street from the terrace of the coffee shop she was in, something caught her attention and made her frown.

Jennie was there, which was no surprise as Chaeyoung had waited all day for her to finally come out, but she wasn't alone.

That wasn't planned. Chaeyoung hated surprises.

Obviously it didn't take her too long to figure out who the other woman was. Bae Joohyun, her obsession's ex fiancée. Her face was all over the brunette's social medias which never failed to make her blood boil. It was rather obvious that she hadn't moved on from her, or the pictures would be long gone from the websites, which left Chaeyoung with one unanswered question.

Why would someone be stupid enough to let a woman like Jennie go?

Chaeyoung would make sure that never happened, even if she had to lock the brunette up for that. She would never let her go, ever.

The conversation didn't look peaceful, which kind of relieved the blonde woman, although she couldn't help but feel worried for the detective. The older woman better not raise one finger of her, or Chaeyoung wouldn't hesitate for a second before killing her.

The image of life slowly leaving her eyes as Chaeyoung was strangling her made her relax a little.

Suddenly, she saw Jennie breaking down in tears and screaming out at the other woman, and a frown made its way to Chaeyoung's face. She didn't remember seeing her so mad, ever.

This was... a somewhat pleasant surprise. But the woman hated that someone was playing with her girl.

When the oldest woman left barely a minute later and Jennie fell to her knees on the ground, Chaeyoung knew what needed to be done.

She'd teach her a lesson.

**Jennie**

Jennie felt exhausted.

Not even physically anymore, it had gone much further from that. The brunette wasn't sure she even had the strength to keep on living.

At this point, the only thing that was keeping her going was the fear of dying, and maybe the promise she had made to her parents before they left for good, too. She wasn't sure it still mattered though.

She was completely lifeless, not sure how she would manage to pretend to be okay from then on.

She knew she still had her work, but was there even a point anymore?

Rosé could do anything she wanted to anyone for all she cared. Jennie was too tired to keep on playing.

As if the universe had heard her thoughts, her phone suddenly started ringing loudly, and Jennie perked up when Joohyun's name flashed on her screen.

...What?

She debated with herself for a second, not sure that answering would be a good idea, but who was she fooling?

Of course she'd answer.

"Hello?"

Jennie hoped Irene didn't hear how much her voice was shaking.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Jennie?! You're a fucking psychopath, god I-"

"Whoa- wait what?" Jennie slowly sat up, a frown making its way on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't you think I'm stupid Jennie. Seriously, I didn't know you were that fucking desperate. Don't you think I'll let this slide just because you're a cop."

"Joohyun." Jennie sighed, trying to calm herself down. "I promise, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"So you aren't the one who sent me that rose huh? 'Leave Jennie alone, or I'll make you regret that.' You really think I'm stupid, don't you?" She scoffed, and Jennie froze.

There was no way-

"What?"

"You fucking heard me, Jennie- God, I can't even... is this one of your game huh?"

"I promise I didn't send you that, Irene- God, why would I even tell you to leave me alone? You know that's not what I want." Jennie said, her voice trembling slightly.

She couldn't tell her about Rosé.

"But you hoped that I would ask for your help after getting that note, right? I might not be a detective, but I'm no fool you psychotic b-"

"Irene, fuck off," Jennie said, shocking both Irene and herself at the sudden burst of confidence.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh you heard me." The brunette scoffed. "I told you it isn't me, alright? Fuck don't you think you've hurt me enough already? I'm done. Call the police if you're so scared, I didn't do shit."

At that, Jennie hung up, letting out a loud sigh of relief.

She had let Irene control her and her life for so long, it was time it stopped.

She was still despairingly in love with her, she knew it'd take time to stop, but she had to stop crying over a girl who treated her like that.

And... the thought that Rosé had done that to her made her feel all warm inside. Was she trying to protect her? Or was that just to trick Jennie into trusting her...?

Whatever it was, it worked, and Jennie found herself caring less and less about doing the right thing, and instead thought that it was time she followed her own instincts.

Maybe Rosé wasn't a threat.

Maybe she was just what the brunette needed.


	11. chapter ten

**Jennie**

When Jennie got to work the next day she was utterly exhausted, there was no need in denying that. But somehow, she felt... reborn.

Telling Irene to fuck off had made her feel better than anything had in a while, and she was only now realizing that she should've done it much _much_ sooner. For too long she had let anything or anyone affect her, dictate her life, it was time she realized that this wasn't good for her and needed to stop.

Part of her wanted to tell her boss the same thing, but that seemed a little too much. Jennie needed that job, as much as she hated everyone there. She only needed to gain back some control, and had the feeling that Rosé might help her do just that.

Now, how was the only question remaining.

Jennie almost wanted to laugh at how her life changed so suddenly and drastically, she didn't feel like herself anymore. It was as if a completely new person had taken over her soul and body, getting rid of her weak, past self.

The brunette smiled to herself at the thought. Maybe she was just becoming completely insane.

_"Jen?"_

The familiar voice suddenly made her turn around so she was faced with a worried looking Jisoo. The detective sighed, _please_ , not again.

"What do you want, Jisoo?" Jennie asked as she slumped down on her chair, not bothering to look at her friend anymore as she sat next to her. She could feel Jisoo had sensed the change in her tone.

"I, uh... I wanted to apologize."

Jennie stayed silent. She expected her to tell her how tired she looked and how much she needed a break yet again, definitely not apologies.

"Jennie?"

"What are you even apologizing for?" Jennie stayed, looking back at the raven haired girl with a frown.

"Underestimating you." She sighed. "Look, you're strong as hell Jen, I'm sorry if I made it seem like I think otherwise. As your friend I was just concerned, but I never wanted to hurt you or anything. If you feel like you can do this then... I'm with you. So yeah, I'm sorry, and I'm sure you're gonna catch that murderer, you're by far the best detective here."

Jennie chuckled lowly, shaking her head. "It's fine."

"Is it really?"

The brunette ignored that, and she perfectly caught the glimpse of sadness in her friend's eyes.

"Well then... I'm gonna let you work."

"Okay, thanks."

"Hey, Jendeuk?"

Jennie glanced up, feeling her heart clench painfully at the nickname. "What?" She could feel that her voice was much weaker already.

"How about, uh... We go out tonight? Just the both of us, at that bar we used to go to when we just joined the police." Jisoo started, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, "You know, in memory of the old days,"

The brunette released a shaky breath. Jisoo had been her only true friend, if she did think about it. Maybe going out wouldn't be so bad...

Except that Jennie had to move forward, and still had a lot of work to do.

She sighed. There was the mental struggle again. Just when she thought that she had gotten rid of all of that.

"Yeah, sure." She finally said, and the raven haired girl broke into a wide smile.

"Great! I'll see you tonight then." Jisoo said before finally leaving Jennie alone as the girl buried her head in her arms.

She still had a long way to go.

But now wasn't the time to focus on that. She needed to focus on Rosé only.

***

It was four in the afternoon when Jennie received a call that startled both her and Jinyoung. With her hand shaking, she picked it up, sighing in relief when the voice on the other side wasn't Rosé's. Her colleague frowned at her weird antics but eventually chuckled when she glared at him.

"Hello?" Jennie answered, trying to focus on the call and not how part of her was disappointed that the woman wasn't the one calling her, despite how terrible that would be.

The detective's eyes went wide at the person's answer, her mouth agape, and she quickly muttered a 'thank you' before hanging up.

"You look like you've seen a ghost or something." Jinyoung teased, "What's up? Who was it?"

"Uh, the director of the hotel." The brunette said, shaking her head slowly. "We have a witness. An employee saw her."

Jennie would finally know what she looked like.

But was that a mistake? Did she want her to see her? Was she just being careless all of the sudden?

The detective didn't know how to feel about it, and she was strongly starting to believe that she was just losing her sanity. She needed to refocus.

***

Jennie was nervously playing with her hands as she was looking at the policeman working on the photofit picture of the woman that occupied all of her dreams.

Their witness, another maid who worked in the hotel, had been trying to describe her and get an accurate representation for almost half an hour already, and the brunette felt like she was going to lose her mind at any second.

"Wait, no-" The woman shook her head, "She has like... much softer features, her nose is a little smaller too... I think."

"God, just focus, will you?" Jennie breathed out through gritted teeth and her partner discreetly shoved her arm at that, shooting her a cold gaze.

Jinyoung smiled at the woman, "It's okay, take all the time you need. What about her hair? You said it looked like a wig, are you sure?"

She sighed, "Uh, I mean I think so? It looked kind of weird, like- I mean she had her hair tied up, but it didn't look natural."

Jinyoung turned to Jennie, "We should probably search around just in case she threw it away." He said, and the brunette nodded.

It was probably too late, and she doubted that Rosé would make such a dumb mistake, but they didn't have much more option anyway.

After another ten minutes, the witness was finally satisfied enough with the picture, and Jennie kept on staring at it with a frown on her face.

The woman she had described looked really young, her features were indeed really soft, making her look almost too sweet for a supposed serial killer. Jennie tried to imagine her, associating her voice with that face.

Her size kind of intimidated her too. According to the woman, she was wearing heels, but looked tall anyway, probably around five feet six, at least, which meant that she'd definitely tower over Jennie.

...God.

It shouldn't make her feel the way it did.

The maid had spent the most time describing her eyes, though. She had said her gaze was the most intimidating thing about her, and although the photofit was most likely not that close to the reality, Jennie could've sworn she knew those eyes. If only she could know where she had seen them.

She eventually shrugged it off. Her mind was probably just playing tricks on her, Jennie had spent so much time picturing the woman that she had somehow convinced herself that she knew her.

They were still interrogating the witness, trying to collect as much information as possible, when her phone suddenly ringed again.

She shot Jinyoung an apologetic look before getting up and leaving the room and leading outside, expecting her captain to be the one calling her.

Except it wasn't. It was yet another unknown number, and Jennie knew what this meant.

Rosé was calling her, once more. In the middle of the day, while she was with another detective investigating on her.

God, that woman was reckless.

Taking a deep breath, Jennie picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear. "I see that you like taking risks, huh?"

The woman chuckled, making goosebumps erupt all over Jennie's skins. She immediately recognized her voice, this was really Rosé, even though she didn't have any doubt about that before.

"Playing safe is no fun, detective. Don't you agree?"

"Oh, I do."

Jennie nervously looked around her, making sure that no one was around and could hear their conversation. Thankfully, the street was almost empty, except for the few people who quickly walked passed her without even sparing her a glance.

"Why did you call me?"

"I wanted to make sure that Ms. Bae was out of the picture" She only said, her tone was much much colder than what Jennie had gotten used to, making a shiver run down her spine.

"...Don't you know that?" The detective answered, hoping that her voice remained as calm and composed as she thought.

"I want to hear it from you."

The line went silent for a few seconds as Jennie's breath hitched.

"Yeah, she is."

Jennie almost wanted to thank her for what she did to her ex fiancé, but how absurd would that be? Sure, she had already thrown more than half of her moral out of the window, but she wasn't going to thank a serial killer.

"That's good, I have you all for myself."

The brunette could almost laugh. "Do you?"

"Don't try to deny it, Jennie. You're attracted to me."

"I'm not." Her response came quick, too quick almost. Jennie hoped that she didn't sound defensive.

The way Rosé started laughing told her otherwise.

"I could arrest you." The brunette said, probably trying to convince herself more than the woman. She could, and she would.

"We'll see about that."

Again, a tense silence took over, and confusion started growing in the detective. Would she really arrest her if she had the chance? That was the right thing to do, but would it be right for _her_?

Jennie didn't know what was right or wrong anymore, all she knew was that she wanted to know everything about Rosé, her motives, her past, just her.

"I have a proposition to make." Rosé said after a while, and Jennie could perfectly picture her smile as she said those words. The fact that she now had a small idea of what the woman looked like didn't make it easier for her, at all.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to text you an address. I'm expecting you to be there tonight at nine sharps. Alone and unarmed, obviously, but I'm sure you wouldn't be dumb enough to tell anyone about that right?"

"I-"

"I'm counting on you to be there, baby. Don't disappoint me."

Before Jennie could answer anything, she hung up. Jennie's heart beat increased incredibly, was she being serious? Was that a trap? Did Rosé want to meet her?

Hell, she knew going there and following her instruction was the worst thing to do. It would be stupid, almost a suicide.

Jennie wasn't sure she cared anymore.

***

Jennie _knew_ how wrong this all was.

By going there and following Rosé's instructions, she would clearly side with a murderer. She could lie all she wanted, tell herself that it was just a strategy for the woman to trust her so she could investigate on her better, so she could arrest her later and save lives. But hell, Jennie wasn't believing any of that anymore.

She wanted to see Rosé. Perhaps she even needed it.

It only took a few interactions for the brunette to grow completely obsessed with her. She wanted to know the woman better, what had pushed her to become like that, why was she even so interested in Jennie?

She didn't even know what was right or wrong anymore. What if the reason Rosé had done that was because she had been abused in the past? Their conversation on the phone kept on replaying in Jennie's head; could it be what she meant by that man being _mean_ to her? By the whole revenge act?

What if the reason she was doing it was because the police had failed to give her justice? That Jennie herself had failed at the job she claimed to be so good at?

Who was the real bad guy, here?

Of course, there was still the little voice in Jennie's head telling her that the bad guy was obviously the serial killer who had relentlessly drugged, robbed and killed four known men, probably even more that they didn't even know of. The little voice that was telling her that she was only trying to justify herself for ditching her only friend to go meet a psychopath who would probably harm her too.

Jennie's head was a mess, but one thing she knew was that she couldn't fight her own instincts anymore. For now, she needed to see Rosé. She'd decide on what to do later.

Jennie had been a detective for over seven years already though, and if Rosé was actually planning on hurting her, Jennie wasn't going to let her do that without putting up a fight. She knew that not following her instructions perfectly might be a death wish, but there was no way that the brunette was going there unarmed.

Taking a last look at herself in the mirror, she made her way back to her room and took a small pocket knife before hiding it in her shirt.

She knew what Rosé was capable of, but she'd show her that she wasn't one to mess up with either.

Jennie still hoped that she wouldn't need it, though.

The detective barely had time to prepare herself more as it was already time to go. She quickly downed a glass of whisky in a desperate attempt to calm down her heart rate before leaving her apartment and driving towards the location Rosé had given her.

She would be okay.

**Rosé**

Rosé was euphoric.

She knew she was taking risks by asking to meet the brunette so soon without even being sure of her faithfulness yet. But the risk... the thrill of it all, it tasted delicious, and the blonde girl had never felt better than in that moment.

She hummed to the song that was playing while touching up her makeup, admiring herself in the mirror. Her red lipstick made her lips seem even plumper than they already were, and the smoky eyeshadow made her seem somehow more menacing, made her gaze much colder yet much fiercer.

Oh, she truly was perfect. It was no surprise that all these men fell for her traps.

The red suit she was wearing fit her body perfectly, and she couldn't help but wonder if Jennie liked red too.

Well, she'd have to anyway.

Taking her glass of red wine, she made her way back inside her living room where her computer was already opened.

Jennie was still on the rooftop she had carefully chosen, waiting like she had been for a while, looking up at the sky while playing nervously with her fingers. It made Rosé laugh.

She wasn't even really planning on really meeting her that evening, wanting to toy with her a little more, test her, but knowing that she had waited for more than an hour and followed her instructions.... it made goosebumps erupt all over Rosé skin in the best of ways.

Oh, how perfect her brunette was.

Chuckling lowly to herself, Rosé made her way outside and climbed in her car.

This was going to be _so_ fun.

**Jennie**

Jennie was losing hope.

It was ten thirty already, and still no sign of the woman.

She sighed in disappointment, not sure she wanted to go back to her normal life knowing that she had been so close to meet her.

Yet, as her hope kept on fading, Jennie still waited. Just in case it wasn't too late yet. She must look like a fool, but she didn't care anymore.

When she heard the sound of a door opening behind her, she knew she had been right to wait for so long.

A cold shiver ran down her spine as realization hit her.

 _Fuck_ , _hell_ , that was it. She was going to see her.

As excited as the brunette was, she was frozen, and decided to stay still and pretend she hadn't heard the slow footstep behind her.

Then, the woman spoke, and Jennie could swear she had never been so terrified of someone yet so attracted to them at the same time.

 _"Don't move."_ She said, and _of course_ Jennie obeyed. What else could she do anyway?

Hearing her voice in real life was truly not the same from hearing it over the phone. It was much colder, chilling, yet also incredibly sultry, and it made Jennie's head spin.

Then, Jennie heard her laugh, low and sinister, scaring the brunette even more. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Her hand instinctively went to her shirt where the knife was hidden.

"I see you're really obedient," She said. Jennie could feel her right beside her.

She wondered if she could take her down easily like this. Or turn around, see her face, and-

 _No_.

Jennie stopped her train of thoughts before it could go further.

"What do you want?" The detective asked, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. It only caused the woman to laugh once more, and Jennie was getting more and more confused by the second.

"I just wanted to test you, pretty girl."

This time, the voice was a little more distant, and the brunette wondered how in hell she was moving so silently. God, if only she could turn around and take a look at her-

But no. Rosé told her not to, the risk wasn't worth taking.

Then, the woman was right behind her once more and Jennie felt a finger tracing down her back slowly, from her nape to the small of her back, making her shiver once more. Jennie thought she was definitely going to lose her mind.

"Do you trust me, Jennie?"

The brunette wasn't sure of her answer, but telling her no was not an option.

"Yeah, or I wouldn't be here." She said. "Do _you?_ "

This made Rosé laugh. "I'm not sure yet."

"Can I see you?"

Jennie didn't know why she said that, but she did, and it was too late to take it back. She didn't know what she was expecting either, probably for Rosé to just ignore her.

Instead, the woman laughed once more, before tugging at her arm and prompting the brunette to turn around.

Jennie sucked in a breath, not sure she was even ready to see her yet, the photofit had been a lot to take in already. How much more could she handle in just a day?

She didn't have much choice but to follow Rosé's lead though, and barely a second later she was facing the woman and her heart felt like it was about to explode.

She was definitely taller than her, and still wearing heels at that, making Jennie feel stupid with her old pair of sneakers. When the brunette looked up to meet her gaze she couldn't help but feel disappointed. A black mask was covering half of her face, making only her eyes visible.

Jennie's first thought was that the photofit definitely didn't do them justice, if a gaze could actually freeze someone to death, Jennie would be long gone. Her second thought was that she most definitely _knew_ them, yet she was incapable of remembering when and where she had seen them.

Her train of thought was interrupted by another laugh, and Jennie instinctively closed her eyes at the sound, embarrassed that she had been caught staring.

"Don't be shy now, Jennie."

The brunette ignored that.

"What do you want from me?"

When Jennie opened her eyes again, Rosé had walked away, and was now leaning against the small wall on the edge of the rooftop.

"I told you, I wanted to test you." She said, her voice composed, as if they were having the most normal, friendly conversation.

"No," The brunette shook her head, not moving at all. "Not now just- why...? Why are you doing that? Why me?"

Jennie had imagined this moment a thousand times in her head, but now that she was with the woman she felt like she couldn't form a proper sentence.

Rosé turned around and frowned, "I had a feeling you were different."

"I...?"

She released a low chuckled, walking toward Jennie once more, "Are you gonna arrest me detective?" Her tone was teasing.

"No." Jennie sighed. "I want to help you."

"Why is that?" She said, sounding amused, now walking behind the brunette who still felt completely paralyzed.

She shrugged. "Had a feeling you were different." Was all Jennie answered, and Rosé laughed once more.

Jennie was becoming addicted to that sound.

Then, the detective felt Rosé's warm breath hit her ear and let out a shaky breath at it, not realizing until now that she was so close.

"You know I could hurt you if I wanted, right?" Rosé whispered, making Jennie jump slightly in surprise.

She turned around abruptly to face the woman once more, but as she did so she heard a metallic sound that made her freeze on the spot for a second.

Gulping loudly, she glanced down and shivered in dread when she noticed that it was her knife that had fallen down from where it was tapped under her shirt.

_Oh, no. Oh God no._

It all happened in mere seconds.

Jennie risked looking up at Rosé whose eyes had turned to the darkest black the brunette had ever seen. She had made her mad.

The detective was quick to react though, surprisingly, as she dipped to the floor and picked it up before Rosé could do anything before bringing it up, between them.

_"Don't."_

_"Tsk,_ Jennie, and here I thought you were being such a good girl for me."

_Oh, no. What had Jennie done._

"I don't want to hurt you." The brunette spoke up, "But I will if you force me to."

"Do it then," She said, "Come on,"

Jennie was expecting anything but that. She didn't want to. She couldn't do it.

When a few seconds passed and the brunette didn't move, Rosé laughed again. This time, it was so much darker, evil almost, and Jennie wished she had stayed home, or went out with Jisoo. She wished she was anywhere but here.

"I knew it." Rosé only said, and before Jennie could react the woman had grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully so she had no choice but to drop the knife. In only a second, Rosé had the brunette on the floor, both of her arms locked behind her back, firmly held by the woman's hand.

That was it. She was definitely going to die.

_God, fuck, no._

"You don't want to mess with me, Jennie." She practically growled, and the brunette _knew_ how pathetic it was, but she couldn't hold back the broken sob that left her.

"I'm sorry," She whimpered, "I-"

"I can't believe I thought I could trust you."

"You can!" Jennie sobbed, "I promise, god, I promise you can. I'll prove it, please I-"

"Are you scared of me?"

The brunette could tell she was enjoying that. " _Yeah_."

"Good." Rosé said, releasing a low chuckle. "You know, you really disappointed me."

"I'm sorry," Jennie's cheeks were soaked by now, she was trembling in fear, her whole body hurting from the painful position. "I'm so sorry, please, I promise I didn't want to- _please_ let me go,"

"Oh the way you beg," Rosé breathed out. She stayed silent for a few seconds after that, only the distant city noises and Jennie muffled sobs could be heard.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably merely a few seconds, she spoke up again. "I'm gonna give you another chance, detective." She said, and it took Jennie everything in her not to release a sigh of relief. "Can I trust you?"

"Y- Yeah, I promise,"

She didn't even know what this meant, what would Rosé do to her. But she couldn't disappoint her more. She couldn't lose her.

"Good. Expect to hear from me soon."

That was the last thing Rosé said, and before Jennie even realized what was happening the woman was gone and she was all alone.

 _God._ What had she put herself into? 


	12. chapter eleven

**Jennie**

It had been two weeks, and Jennie was slowly losing any hope of ever hearing of Rosé again.

Ever since their encounter, the woman had completely disappeared. Not one crime, or at least they didn't think so as nothing that happened recently really matched her typical style nor had her signature, the single red rose. She hadn't tried to contact Jennie either, and the brunette thought that was it. She had _really_ fucked up.

She kept on thinking about that evening, it haunted her daily, and even when she managed to fall asleep, Rosé was waiting for her in her dreams and nightmares.

Her piercing gaze, slander body, the way she moved so swiftly. The thing Jennie couldn't forget _at all_ was her voice though, which, despite the coldness, had some hint of softness in it that made her head spin madly. Rosé drove her crazy, even when she wasn't physically there.

Ever since that evening, Jennie's days had been dull. The case wasn't progressing at all and the fact that Rosé had decided to go off radars didn't make it easier for them at all.

Sure, not having new murders was rather a good thing, but everyone was getting tenser everyday knowing that a serial killer was still on the lose and ready to strike any time. They needed to catch her, but how?

Jennie spent her evenings imagining new strategies to get to her again, whether it was to arrest her or help her, she wasn't sure. The good and evil parts in her kept on fighting, making her more confused by the second. But at last, no matter what it was for, she needed to see her again. It was like her life depended on it.

Their captain had grown tired of the situation as well, obviously, and eventually decided that this case wasn't so critical anymore. Both Jennie and Jinyoung had been assigned to other less relevant cases and the brunette was wondering if there was even a point in trying anymore.

She felt like she was slowly dying.

Jisoo had stopped trying to get to her, Jennie knew it was her turn to make a move if she didn't want to lose her only friend, but she didn't have the strength to do anything about it. She'd just wait, see what happen.

Hopefully, at some point, Rosé would come back and give her the second chance Jennie was so despairingly waiting for. This time, she swore to herself that she would do anything to get back on the woman's good side.

**Chaeyoung**

"Yeri?" Chaeyoung called, a bouquet of roses in her hands, the younger girl instantly turned around, looking back at the woman with big eyes, "This is for Ms. Im, please be careful," she said as she handed the younger girl the flowers.

Yeri's hands were shaking, which didn't go unnoticed by Chaeyoung as a concerned frown appeared on her face.

"Is everything okay?"

Yeri only nodded before quickly leaving the small room to give their customer her order. Chaeyoung only got more confused, wondering what was up with the young apprentice. She had been acting strangely around her for a while now which worried her. She thought their relationship was good, would she disappoint her too?

Hell, Chaeyoung didn't want to have to get rid of her too. She kinda liked Yeri, she was obedient at least.

Shaking her head, she got back to work, unconsciously humming quietly to some songs while picking out the perfect flowers for her new bouquet. Everything else in her life was falling apart. She had found some kind of stability before, but ever since her pretty brunette broke her trust... Chaeyoung was having a hard time recovering from it.

Sure, she understood why Jennie did that. She still saw her like a threat, it was only normal that she had brought something to defend herself if needed. But Chaeyoung needed her to trust her fully, to give her all of the power. Chaeyoung wasn't one to share that.

She hoped that the small break she was giving to the brunette would make her understand how much she needed Chaeyoung. She hoped she wouldn't do such a silly mistake once more.

It would be a real shame if Chaeyoung had to get rid of Jennie as well. It might even sadden her a little.

 _Oh, well._ She would see how things go later anyway. She had a bouquet to finish for now, that was enough concern at a time.

The blonde girl released a loud sigh when she noticed that she was out of daisies. Just her luck. Deciding against calling Yeri to bring her some, she made her way to the outside of their shop where she knew they still had some and brought them back inside.

She was expecting to see her apprentice at the counter, dealing with some customers or waiting for them if the shop was empty. Instead, though, she saw the young girl rearranging the roses and clenched her fists at the sight. She had told her multiple times not to touch them. She wasn't allowed to.

Chaeyoung quietly walked over to her and grabbed her shoulder roughly, making Yeri jump at the sudden contact. The younger girl instantly turned around, looking up at the woman with big eyes.

"I-"

Just as she was about to scream at her, Chaeyoung's gaze landed on the girl's finger, her fair skin was now tinted by blood, and the blonde woman closed her eyes at the sight.

Her mind was instantly clouded by dark memories she had despairingly tried to bury. Images flashed, making it harder and harder for her to breathe.

She heard shouts, the thunder, the loud bangs of door slamming and-

"M-miss Park?" She heard Yeri stutter out and let her go, only noticing now that she was still tightly gripping her shoulder, and she took a step back, trying despairingly to calm down and go back to a normal state.

Chaeyoung looked up, avoiding the girl's hand. "I thought I told you not to touch the roses," She said, her voice apparently more menacing than she thought as the younger took a step back.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"What happened to your hand?" She cut her off.

"Oh- This?" She brought her hand up and Chaeyoung instinctively looked away, making Yeri frown. "Uh, it's nothing, I guess I just cut myself a bit with the thorns but- It doesn't even hurt, really-"

"Go clean that and go home." The older woman said, already starting to leave toward the back of the shop to recompose herself.

"But-"

"Yeri, now." She grunted, and that was all the younger needed.

As soon as Chaeyoung was alone again, she finally released the breath she had been holding for so long and slumped down on her chair. She was too stressed out, she needed to let go.

Chaeyoung took her phone out of her pocket and checked her list as a small smile made its way to her lips. There weren't many names left, and tonight seemed like a good occasion to reduce it even more.

It would at least take her mind off everything a little.

**Jennie**

"Look at who we have here,"

The brunette immediately recognized the voice and it took everything in her not to groan out loud. It was nearly nine in the evening, she had decided to work extra hours to distract herself a little, but was not expecting anyone to disturb her.

She really should've known better.

"I'm busy, Bobby." Jennie said, ignoring the other detective as he sat down next to her desk.

"Paperwork sucks, huh?" She could perfectly hear his smile as he said the words, only increasing even more her frustration. "Want a little help babe? I can teach you how to do your job right."

"Don't call me that," Jennie grunted, ignoring the last bit.

"Or what, _babe?"_

Jennie bit the tip of her finger. An habit she had developed whenever she felt her anger take over and needed something to ground her.

"Now obviously my help won't be free," Bobby added when she didn't answer. "I expect a little... _something_ in return."

She wanted to throw up. His tone was teasing, but she could tell he actually meant every word, and it made her sick to her stomach. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of reacting to it though, if Jennie had learnt one thing in all those years spent there, it was that it was sometimes better to ignore than to fuel the fire, especially with men like Bobby.

So the brunette only shook her head slightly, still not sparing him a glance, "Can't you leave? I'm working."

He laughed at her words, and there was nothing Jennie wanted more than to punch the teasing smirk off his face.

She sighed.

_Control yourself._

"How's your case going? The rose killer huh? Was that it?"

_Asshole._

"I swear-"

"Bobby C'mon, leave her alone." This time it was Mark who talked, and Jennie wished she could bury herself alive instead of having to listen to them. "How are you doing Jen?"

Mark was less of an idiot, but it didn't mean she was in the mood for that.

"I'm ok."

 _I want to kill every single person in this room and then myself._ She almost laughed.

Maybe there was something wrong with her.

"D'you actually need help? I-"

_Oh, no._

That was it.

"Just leave me the fuck alone, I'm really not in the mood right now."

The detectives seemed surprised by her sudden change of mood as Mark shook his head slightly, scoffing, "Wow, okay? I was just asking if you needed help, but.."

"Leave it," Bobby cut him off and Jennie sighed, "Not only are you incompetent, but you're also an ungrateful cunt huh?"

The brunette eyes went wide at the last word as she gasped loudly, standing up to face the other man with her fists clenched.

She wasn't sure what she would do or say. No matter what happened next, she knew it'd be her fault in the end. But she couldn't let anyone talk to her that way and not do anything about it.

Before she could say a thing though, she heard her name being called from the other side of the room and turned around toward the sound, quickly followed by the two other detectives.

Jinyoung was there, looking slightly panicked yet... excited?

When he reached their level, he couldn't fight his grin anymore. "She struck again." He said, ignoring the other men and Jennie almost gasped in disbelief.

_Really..?_

"And you're happy about it?" Bobby scoffed, side-eyeing Jinyoung who couldn't hide his excitement anymore.

"I- no, not about the death but-" He smiled, "She fucked up, big time. There's no way we don't catch her this time."

***

It would be a lie to say that Jennie hadn't missed the crime scenes.

After two weeks staying stuck at her desk staring at her computer screen, it felt amazing to be out and able to keep her mind actually busy, doing the job she had weirdly grown to love.

She had missed the rush of adrenaline that came with it, especially after so many dull days.

Jennie wasn't sure how to feel about the whole situation though.

This murder was so unlike Rosé.

All of her previous ones were carefully executed, probably even planned. Even if she had broken the pattern by strangling her last victim, all of the deaths were pretty similars. The men were tied up, home (or in their hotel room, which was basically the same), and everything indicated that Rosé had used seduction to get to them.

Hell, Jennie would've been fooled too.

_(Or, well, she had been.)_

Yet this time, the whole thing was messy.

The victim had been killed while still at work, only a few minutes before the police had been called, and the crime scene was gruesome.

The man dead's body was laying on his company's building's bathroom floor, his arms and faces covered by bruises which surely indicated that there had been a fight involved this time. He had her signature red rose in his hand, which might be the only thing that indicated Rosé was the woman behind it, except the choice of victime maybe.

A middle aged rich man. Was he an asshole too?

One of the sink was still filled by water, and even though they had to wait for the forensic's report to be sure, it didn't take a genius to guess that Rosé had somehow drowned that man. There was water everywhere, which showed that he had tried to fight for his live, and Jennie couldn't help but wonder just how strong Rosé was?

She had Jennie on the floor in a matter of seconds a few weeks prior, though. So it wasn't a complete surprise, but still. This woman was a mystery.

Besides all of that, it wasn't the first time that Rosé had killed a man in a public place, but it was never that crowded. Even at this hour of the day the offices were still filled by people trying to finish their work, or some cleaning staff making sure that this place stayed as neat as possible.

That only meant that there were a lot of witnesses who would confirm that Rosé was the one behind it, though the woman had somehow made sure that her face was never shown on the CCTVs cameras.

Rosé's biggest mistake this time probably came from the fight.

All of her previous murders were neat, there were absolutely no traces of her on the crime scene. This would've been nearly impossible to achieve this time, and Jennie wasn't so surprised to find a single hair on the man's dead body. Given the length and color, it definitely belonged to her.

Jennie wasn't sure how to feel about it, truthfully.

The detective in her was happy that the case was finally progressing and that she might be able to arrest her. The other, darker part of her wished that Rosé hadn't made such a silly mistake.

She still wanted to help her, or to figure the woman out before making any decision at the very least.

But with that record, if they were to catch her, there was no way that Rosé would escape jail.

This shouldn't sadden Jennie so much.

Jinyoung came in the room when Jennie was still inspecting the body, a wide grin on his face. "Showed the photofit to a few witnesses, it matches. She's definitely the one behind it." He said, and Jennie nodded slowly.

"Well... It'll only be a matter of hours until we have her DNA so... I guess we're almost there." The brunette answered.

Jinyoung crouched down beside her, giving her a comforting smile.

"Think she already had a criminal record before all of that?"

Jennie only shrugged. "I doubt it's her first, don't know if she's been caught before tho."

"Yeah.."

They stayed silent for a few seconds after that, as Jennie tried hard to remain professional. She was still at work, surrounded by other policemen, she couldn't allow herself to feel pity for the woman.

She had fucked up, it was on her.

"You okay?" Jinyoung asked after a while and Jennie nodded.

"Yeah, it's just... don't you think it's weird? She's never been so reckless, I don't get it..."

Jinyoung chuckled lowly. "Yeah, I guess one can only stay perfect for so long. You know what they say, play with fire and you're gonna get burned."

The detective hummed.

She really wish she could understand her. Know what was inside her mind for her to do all that.

Suddenly, Jennie felt her phone buzz inside her pocket and excused herself.

She didn't know what to expect, to be completely honest. She had lost any hope of hearing of Rosé again like that after the last time, and yet...

The message that flashed on her screen made bile rise in her throat.

_"Destroy the evidences."_   
_"You wouldn't want to disappoint me again, Jennie."_

_Oh, god._

She was in _so_ much trouble.

Destroying the evidences meant going against the law _and_ against her own morals. Besides, she was putting herself in danger as she would be immediately suspected if some critical evidences were to disappear, and it wouldn't take much for them to find out the texts she had exchanged with Rosé, and then...

Jennie didn't even want to think about what would happen.

But, not destroying them meant going against Rosé's wishes, and after what happened the last time she had disappointed her and how empty she had felt these last two weeks, this wasn't even an option.

Which meant one thing.

If Jennie listened to Rosé, and _of course_ she would, she would never go back to her previous life. This made her a criminal too, indirectly. Maybe it wasn't as bad as actually being a murderer, but she was still willingly protecting one. Once she did it, there was no coming back.

Fortunately, it wouldn't be _too_ hard. They hadn't reported any evidences yet, and the only thing that might actually incriminate Rosé was the hair they had found. She only had to destroy it, convince Jinyoung not to tell anyone about it and that would be enough.

She had to be extremely careful and convincing if she wanted it to work though.

Sighing, Jennie quickly deleted the texts and went back to work. What was even the point of following the law if her job only made her feel more miserable every day? At least, Rosé gave her the rush of adrenaline she didn't even know she needed. The woman made her feel reborn, made her see life in a completely new way. One that made her want to stay alive and keep on fighting.

Jinyoung was still inspecting the scene when she came back inside, fresh determination taking over her body.

It shouldn't feel so good to do something so bad.

Jennie crouched down beside the body, they were alone in the room, except for the cop that was securing the scene, and the brunette almost wanted to laugh. She collected a few of the evidences they had gathered, and when Jinyoung shot her a confused look she only shrugged and muttered, "We should wrap it up for now, there's a lot of paperwork waiting for us.", and it seemed to be enough for her partner as he nodded his answer.

After all, it was late already, and they had been looking around for nearly an hour without finding anything more.

Now, Jennie only needed to find a way to get rid of it, and most importantly to think of the lie she'd tell Jinyoung.

She hoped she'd be convincing enough.

She'd do everything to make it work anyway. Jennie needed Rosé, and she was ready to prove the woman that she needed her just as much.

**Chaeyoung**

Chaeyoung watched the scene on her computer screen with a devilish smile.

Fucking millionaires, and they weren't even capable of protecting their security system from hackers. Not that Chaeyoung wasn't skilled anyway, but still, they made the job almost too easy.

The now silver haired girl was attentively keeping an eye on Jennie.

She had expected her to be scared, even too scared to follow her instructions, but the pretty brunette was always full of surprises, and Chaeyoung's smile got even wider when she saw her obey and hide the evidences.

It truly seemed like she was made for that.

Chaeyoung could almost squeal in delight. Maybe she had been right to give Jennie a second chance.

Eventually, the detectives got out of the building and Chaeyoung's sight, and the young woman thought it was finally time for her to get some sleep.

Her whole body felt sore, and the rush of adrenaline she had had earlier was dying down, making her more exhausted by the second.

Part of her was a little worried. She had been reckless that evening, almost willingly guiding the detective to her, but she was _so_ tired of being careful. Tasting danger like she had done earlier today was truly... incredible.

The terror on his face, the look in his eyes when he recognized her.

 _Oh,_ Chaeyoung truly loved it all.

Even when he had tried to defend himself and fought back, even as she felt the pain of his fist against her jaw, she felt amazing, way more than she thought was possible.

And then...

Holding the man's body tightly in place as he was struggling to stay alive with his face under the water, feeling him twitch until _finally_ he gave up and his body went limp under her.

_God._

Nothing could feel better.

She wondered if Jennie would feel the same way too when she'd make her do all that.

She was pretty sure that she would.

Ever since she had first seen her, saw the glimpse in her eyes, Chaeyoung knew.

Jennie Kim was _never_ meant to do good.


	13. chapter twelve

**Jennie**

"Wait wait wait, I'm sorry, you what?" Jinyoung uttered, massaging his temple slowly, "Please tell me I didn't hear that right Jennie."

The woman sighed, letting her back rest against the door of her car.

It was show time.

They were alone in the streets, all the other policemen had already left, leaving Jennie and Jinyoung behind. It was the brunette's only chance to convince her partner that she had unfortunately lost their most important evidence. Her chance to prove herself to Rosé while not raising suspicions.

"I lost an evidence." She breathed out, making sure that no one was hiding somewhere, listening to them. "The... The hair. I lost it."

As soon as he heard the words once more, Jinyoung angrily kicked the wheel behind Jennie, making the latter almost Jump in surprise.

"Oh for god's sake Kim, what the fuck?!"

The detective had an angry frown darkening his features, making Jennie almost shiver in dread. If he didn't believe her, she was done for.

"How did you even-" He paused mid sentence as his voice started to raise, before taking a deep breath, finally looking into the brunette's eyes again. "How did you lose it?"

Jennie shrugged, her eyes stuck on her feet. She was shaking a bit, from fear of being caught, but hopefully Jinyoung would just think that she genuinely felt terrible.

"I don't know, a second I had it and the next..." She trailed, and her partner released a low sigh.

"Did you look for it?"

"What do you think?!" Jennie exclaimed, "I looked everywhere, I swear! It's like it disappeared"

"Fucking-" Jinyoung shook his head, "What are we gonna do now? God Jennie, we could've had her DNA! Do you realize it?!"

Jennie's eyebrows furrowed, "Yeah, yeah I do Jinyoung, god- of course I do!" She shook her head, looking up at her partner with a pleading gaze, her eyes sparkling slightly. "Please... please don't tell the captain about it."

Jinyoung seemed surprised by her request as he took a step back, "You can't... you can't ask me that..?"

The brunette gulped, finally allowing the tears she had been holding to fall. "I know I'm asking a lot, and I'm so sorry... But you know how much he hates me, right?"

Jinyoung kept on staring at the brunette with his eyebrows furrowed.

"If he finds out I lost it... Hell, he'll immediately suspend me, or worse and- I can't have that, I need this job, I don't have anyone else..."

She noticed his gaze soften as she said the word and mentally gave herself a pat on her back at this.

"I'm begging you... just don't say a thing, we can pretend it just doesn't exist, no one even knows about it beside us. There wasn't any CCTV in the bathroom, no one will know... please Jinyoung."

"I-" He sighed, "F-fine, okay, I won't say a thing just... calm down"

Her lips curled into a small smile at the words, "Really?"

"Yeah," He sighed, "Yeah really. We'll find another way to find her, it's... okay."

Jennie could tell he was still a big skeptical, but luckily for her Jinyoung was one of the rare person who was still on her side. It was her first time doing such a big mistake, and her partner knew it.

"Thank you so much, god I- I owe you,"

"Yeah you do," He scoffed, a ghost of a smile forming on his lips. "Let's just go back there now, they'll get suspicious." Jinyoung said and Jennie nodded.

This went better than she had expected it to.

As they both sat inside the car, Jinyoung driving, his gaze only focusing on the road before them, Jennie glanced at the badge that was still hanging loosely from her neck and sighed.

She couldn't believe what she had done- Well, was doing.

She was breaking the law, her own morals, and what for? A woman who only liked to play with her and use her?

For all that Jennie knew, Rosé could kill her the second she was done with her.

Yet, the brunette trusted her.

It was stupid, that she knew. But she was done going to work each day only to be humiliated by her boss and colleagues. Who was she even kidding? Even if Jennie had solved that case and caught Rosé, absolutely nothing would change. She'd get a mere congratulations, 'nice job detective' at best. Then things would go back to normal.

If Jennie was being completely honest, she thought that the reason Rosé was doing all that was because the police had failed her in the first place. She was only seeking justice.

The brunette was convinced she was on the right side before, but now... she realized that she had been wrong all along.

And she was done with that.

She was done being good, obeying orders from a system she didn't even trust. From then on, she'd only obey her own instincts. Do what she thought was right for her and others.

And hopefully, it'd be with Rosé by her side.

**Unknown**

"Babe?"

"Mmh?"

"Aren't you coming to bed?"

A chuckle was heard in the room, and the woman smiled. "I am, love. Just a second."

"Hurry up, I'm cold here."

"Okay, okay, you impatient baby."

"Oh shut up." She laughed.

Barely a few seconds later, the raven haired girl came out of their shared bathroom with her hands behind her back. Her girlfriend grinned, amused at the sight.

"What are you hiding?"

She ignored the question, walking towards their bed where the younger one was laying.

"Babeee, what is it?"

Without a word, the older woman took her hands off her back and handed her girlfriend a bouquet red roses, making her gasp in surprise.

"Rene! Oh my god this is so- you're the best," She stuttered out before bringing her girlfriend in for a kiss.

"Happy one year and four months baby," The older said when they parted, making the other chuckle against her lips.

"I love you so much."

"You know I love you more," She grinned.

"That's a lie." She said before pecking her on the lips.

"Oh is it?"

The younger only hummed, bringing her girlfriend in for another, deeper kiss.

The bouquet was soon discarded on the floor as the raven haired girl climbed on top of her girlfriend, not breaking the kiss as she did so, and when they parted for air she looked down at her with a sly smirk before breathing out, "I'll prove you just how much I love you, Seulgi, trust me on this.", and before the younger could even react she kissed her again, and again, with the firm intention of making her scream her name soon enough.

*******

"So how was your day babe?" Irene asked, playing with her girlfriend's hair as she was laying against her now bare chest.

"Boring," Seulgi sighed. "What about you?"

The older woman hummed, "Same..." She paused for a few seconds, tilting her head to the side. "Well actually- something weird happened at the flower shop when I bought your roses,"

Seulgi perked up at that, "What?"

"I don't know..." She sighed. "The girl who made me the bouquet looked almost scared to do it? Like she was shaking and all. It was so weird. And I swear she had bruises on her arms."

"Damn... What did you do?"

Irene shrugged. "Nothing much, I asked her if she was okay, she said she was so... But I had this weird feeling when I was there,"

"What do you mean?"

Irene hugged Seulgi closer, "Like I wasn't welcomed there, you know? I don't know, it was weird."

"You know what I think?" The younger said, a smile on her lips.

"No?"

"That you read to much books."

"Oh shut up." Irene laughed. "That's what happen when you date cops I guess."

"I'm not a cop." Seulgi rolled her eyes. "And god please don't talk about her ever again."

Irene laughed once more, still stroking her girlfriend's hair softly. "I won't baby, don't worry."

"You know, I heard our captain talk about her the other day and... I don't think she's gonna stay here for much longer."

Irene raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"She keeps on fucking up. I swear every time I see her at work she's like- getting yelled at by one of her superiors. It's like she's asking for it at this point."

"Well then, maybe we'll finally be free from her soon."

"I hope so." Seulgi said before kissing the older woman's neck softly. "I'm tired of seeing her every day."

"I get it, do I need to remind you how long I lived with her?" She chuckled. "Hey maybe you could..."

"What?"

"I don't know. Accelerate her leaving the police... like- We know she's not mentally stable, maybe if you talk to a person or two then you can convince them that she doesn't have her place in the police anymore."

"You're so evil." Seulgi laughed. "But... I guess you're right. I'll definitely find something against her."

"That's my girl." Irene smiled. "Now give me another kiss,"

"As you wish," The younger grinned.

The idea of crossing Jennie out of their lives for good had made her feel better than anything had in a while.

She couldn't wait to get to work.

For now though, she had her girlfriend to please, and she was ready to do just that.

**Jennie**

When Jennie got back to work the following day, her head was still throbbing, a mere reminder of the night before.

She had promised herself she wouldn't drink again, but everything was too hard lately. She needed something to relax.

She didn't know how long it would last. How long she would be able to pretend everything was okay, how long she'd go to work and pretend she wasn't breaking the law. Wasn't falling for a criminal.

No one really seemed suspicious for now, so she'd take full advantage of it.

When she got inside, she noticed that Jinyoung was already there talking to another girl, a civil, and she raised an eyebrow at that. They were supposed to be busy with the case, who was this girl?

Jennie walked towards her partner, trying to ignore how her head was still spinning and wore a fake smile instead, hoping that it'd hide how terrible she was feeling.

Jinyoung gave her a small smile the second he noticed her presence and gestured for her to join them.

"We have a, um, surprise guest." He told her and Jennie finally glanced at the girl.

It took her a few seconds to recognize her.

A small brunette, with... a wandering gazes and bruises all over her arms.

The girl from the flower shop.

Jennie held out her hand, "Good morning, uh..."

"Yeri," The girl finished for her and Jennie nodded.

"Right, Yeri. What can we do for you..?"

Jinyoung cleared his throat, "She, uh... she asked to see us in person." He said, and Jennie tilted her head to the side at this.

"Are you okay?" She asked the younger who instantly shook her head.

"When you came last time, you uh... you asked if I was okay."

The detective nodded, prompting her to continue.

"I- I'm sorry, it's just... I lied. About me being okay, and... I know it's not what you came for and I'm so sorry. I just really don't know what to do and-" She said, her gaze stuck to her feet as a few tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, it's okay just... tell us now. What is it?"

"She's... she's violent with me." The girl was shivering, and Jennie could feel her heart clench at the sight.

"Hey... It's okay, you're safe here, yeah?"

Yeri nodded slowly. "Please help me."

"Of course," Jinyoung answered for her, "We'll file a report, we're just going to need her name and for you to describe what happened exactly, alright?"

"Yeah, okay... She can't know I was the one behind it though, she'll.... I don't know what she'd do to me."

Jennie gave her a sympathetic smile, her mind finally off Rosé and everything else. She still wanted to help people who needed it, and the small brunette clearly did.

"Can you tell us her name to begin with?" Her partner asked.

"I, uh... Yeah, sure. Her name is Park Chaeyoung, I don't think I have any picture of her or anything but-"

"That's not a problem, we can find all that," Jinyoung interrupted, his tone gentle.

"Right..."

They kept on filing the report, Jennie's heart breaking a little as the girl described what she had been through.

As she wrote everything down on her computer, though, Jinyoung suddenly interrupted them with a frown in his face. "It's not her first time getting in trouble for such thing." He sighed, "She was taken into custody three years ago for breaking some man's nose,"

As he said the words, he turned the screen toward the two women so they could see the woman too. "She looks familiar though, it's weird."

Jennie frowned, taking a closer look at the screen to see the woman, and...

Oh, God.

No way... this couldn't...

It was her.

Park Chaeyoung was Rosé.

Jennie felt like throwing up.

*******

Jennie splashed cold water on her face, trying despairingly to slow down her breathing. The air around her felt too tense, and the brunette felt like she was suffocating.

The second she had recognized her, everything fell apart.

There was no way this wasn't her. Sure, the woman's hair were black on that photo while Jennie had seen her with blonde ones, and she seemed more serious, wise almost on it. But her eyes... Jennie would recognize them in a crowd of thousand of people now. They haunted her everyday.

God.

She could catch her.

It'd only take a quick investigation, she just had to watch over Park Chaeyoung and she could prove it but-

It was too late for that. She had chosen her side. She couldn't change now. Didn't want to.

But how long would it take for Jinyoung to notice that Chaeyoung weirdly looked like the photofit they had of Rosé ? 

Or once they'd arrest her for being violent with Yeri, how would she react?

Did she even know that Yeri was there with them?

It wouldn't surprise Jennie.

As if she could read her mind, Jennie suddenly felt her phone buzz inside her pocket, and she could feel her heart start beating faster and fasted in her chest.

She glanced around her quickly, checking if the bathroom were empty before taking it out and reading the text.

Of course it was Rosé.

"I appreciate what you did last night."

"Are you going to be a good girl for me now, Jennie?"

...She didn't know?

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Was that another test?!

What should she do?

Her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

She was screwed.

Without thinking a second more, Jennie typed her answer and quickly clicked send, feeling like it was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

"I need to see you."

Her reply came in mere seconds.

"Kitten's getting bolder, huh?"

The brunette ignored how her heart missed a beat as she read the text.

"I'm serious."

"It's important."

"And what tells me I can trust you?"

"You'll just have to believe me."

"Please."

"You're cute when you beg."

"I kind of want to hear more of it."

God. This woman was driving her insane.

Now isn't the time though, Jennie. Focus.

"Aw why aren't you answering anymore, cat got your tongue, sweetheart?"

"Kim Yeri is here."

Jennie bit the tip of her finger as she sent the text. If Rosé wanted her to be straightforward, she was going to be just that.

Her reply took much longer to come this time, and the detective was almost tempted to tease her back.

She knew better than to piss her off again, though.

Finally, after over two minutes, Rosé texted her back. There was no teasing this time, no pet name either. Only an address and a time.

Hell.

So this was really serious.

When Jennie was about to type her response, another text came and she shivered, cold sweat rolling down her forehead.

"It better not be a lie."

"You pull something like last time again and I slice your throat open, Kim."

It was an empty menace.

Rosé was scared, the brunette was sure of that. For the first time, things didn't go as she planned. The woman knew she needed Jennie if she wanted to get out of this.

Would Jennie be able to save her, though?

She hoped so.

Or she knew that she would lose herself too.

*******

When Jennie got back to her desk, Yeri had already left, and Jinyoung was busy typing something on his computer.

She needed to slow him down, if he started investigating on Chaeyoung, it wouldn’t be long before he’d put the pieces together. Jinyoung might not be the best detective ever, but they had too many elements for him not to notice that Park Chaeyoung was Rosé.

A florist. Jennie scoffed. How didn’t she think about it? Rosé. Her loves for red roses. This all made sense, really.

Forcing a small smile on her face, she made her way to her partner’s desk and did her best not to let her distress show. She couldn’t allow herself to mess up anymore.

“Hey,” She breathed out when she sat down, and Jinyoung only acknowledged her presence with a nod. Sighing, Jennie added, “Where’s Yeri?”

“Left five minutes ago.”

His tone was much colder from the one Jennie had gotten used to and her heart sank at the realization that he might already know.

“Are you okay..?” Jennie hesitantly asked, fearing his reply.

He didn’t answer straight away though, instead, slowly turned his head so he was looking into Jennie’s eyes, his eyebrows furrowed and gaze freezing. “What’s up with you Kim?”

The brunette wanted to answer, but the words stayed stuck in her throat. She knew it would happen. She had played with fire too much.

“You’ve- I mean you’re like one of the best detective I know, but ever since we took this case... it’s like everything’s going downhill.” He added when noticed that the brunette wouldn’t say a thing, and she gulped hard.“You’re clearly not okay, and I’m not saying this to hurt you or whatever but- It’s the truth, and it’s starting to affect our job and-“ He paused for a few seconds, lowering his voice. “You lost a fucking evidence for God’s sake Jen. And now- we were literally with a victim of abuse and you just disappeared for ten minutes? Do you even take this seriously anymore?”

“Yes.” Jennie breathed out. “Yeah, I do, and I’m so sorry.”

This was a blatant lie. She hated her job ever since she discovered that most of the time, they weren’t helping people. They might even create more criminals than they arrest. She didn’t want to be a part of this. She wanted to save people, save Rosé.

But no one would understand.

“I just- I promise I’ll take a break, Jinyoung. I know I need it but... we’re so close to catching R- her, I can’t give up now.”

Jinyoung sighed, burying his head in his hands for a few seconds. “So what now, huh? What about that Yeri girl?”

“Just trust me, please.” She said. “We’ll deal with Yeri later, let’s just- I don’t know, tell her to resign for now and we’ll get her boss later. We have her identity and all anyway.”

“God, Jennie..”

“Please, Jinyoung, please just trust me on this. We can’t have any more people killed.” She pleaded.

“I can’t believe I’m about to agree,” He mumbled, “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”

Jennie couldn’t hold back her grin at his word. It had been easier than expected.

“Trust me, I do.”

“Good.”

Jennie wished she could convince herself she knew what she was doing as easily as she had convinced Jinyoung.

Everything was going downhill, and she knew she’d eventually crash and burn.

Yet, as long as Rosé remained, she didn’t care about any of it.


	14. Chapter thirteen

**Jennie**

Rosé was truly a breathtaking woman.

( _Literally_ , Jennie couldn't help but think. Not that she cared much anyway).

The young woman was looking through the wide windows of the apartment she had indicated to Jennie earlier, her back to her, and... Even then, she was still undoubtedly the most beautiful woman the brunette had ever laid her eyes on.

Her slender body may make her seem quite weak at first glance, but she was nothing close to that. Jennie was pretty strong herself, having gone through some physical training before becoming a detective, but she knew Rosé could take her down within a minute without even breaking a sweat. Her arms and legs were toned, muscles not quite showing but definitely there, hidden underneath her supple skin.

Yet, she was still as graceful as ever. Never brutal, everything about was delicate and classy. Every time she moved, it was almost as if she danced, each of her steps looked like they had been carefully planned before, all perfectly executed.

The dress she was wearing fit her perfectly, the black latex was truly a perfect match to her pale skin. She had long legs, smooth skin that the dark material was, fortunately, not covering. Her silver hair made her look even more expensive, scarier, too. She couldn't even see her face, yet Jennie was already intimidated by the woman (and, no, it didn't have anything to do with her being a criminal).

"You know," The woman started, voice low, as she remained still, "It's rude to stare."

The detective could feel her cheeks heating up when she realized that she'd been caught, but paid no mind to it. She hadn't come there to play her games, not this time. She had to focus back on the reason she had asked to meet Rosé in the first place.

Rosé finally turned around so she was facing the brunette, a sly smile plastered on her face. Jennie wasn't fooled, though. She could perfectly spot the worry in her eyes.

"Why did you want to see me?" She spoke again.

"You know it," Jennie merely answered, pausing for a few seconds as she looked around the place for the first time since she had gotten there. "I assume this isn't where you live, so... whose place is this?"

Rosé chuckled, taking a step closer to the brunette, heels clicking against the floor.

"Does it matter?"

"I'm still a cop," Jennie scoffed, "Breaking in a stranger place isn't something I'm supposed to do."

"But talking with a criminal is?"

She remained silent at those words, making her laugh again, and _oh_ , Jennie would be damned if that wasn't the most beautiful sound ever. So angelic, yet laced with so much darkness. This woman was truly a paradox in every possible way.

Jennie was growing insane.

"Do you want something to drink, sweetheart?" The woman asked, Jennie only realizing then that she had moved much closer to her, so close that she could now smell her perfume.

It was intoxicating, just like her.

Jennie quickly shook her head, remembering the question. "Your victims may have fallen for your tricks, but I won't."

"Oh, but, didn't you already?" She answered, her lips curved upward and an eyebrow cocked up.

Hell.

"Anyway," She smiled, "I know it may be a silly thing to say, but I am not planning on drugging you, no need to worry. If it makes you feel better, I can taste it before to show you that I'm not lying."

Jennie gulped. The conversation seemed so weirdly normal. Rosé's tone was casual, as if the brunette was only visiting a friend and offering her a drink was the most natural thing the woman could do.

It made her feel all warm inside.

How ironic? Jennie felt safer in an apartment alone with an actual murderer than she had anywhere else. It felt as if she was right where she was always supposed to be. Like it was her place.

"I..."

"It's a simple yes or no question, honey. I'm gonna have some red wine anyway," She added. "So?"

"Yeah," Jennie nodded, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat before adding, "I... I'll have some water, please."

The red wine sounded like a wonderful idea, but she knew she had to be in complete control of herself while she was in Rosé's company.

Firstly because the woman was a dangerous criminal that could potentially harm her, secondly because she was there for a serious matter.

Mostly because Jennie could do something stupid, like kiss her, with alcohol in her blood.

"Only water?" Rosé's amused voice brought the brunette out of her daze.

She blinked a few times before humming.

"Alright," The silver-haired girl answered, a smile plastered on her face, before turning around and walking towards what Jennie supposed was the bar.

Whoever that appartement belonged to, that person was rich as hell. Not that it surprised Jennie, given that Rosé had picked it, but the thought that this might also be one of her potential victim's place made her shiver in dread.

The woman seemed comfortable there though, as if she was home, while she was running her hands along all the bottles of wine that were exposed. Jennie only noticed then the dark gloves that were covering her hands, and couldn't help but wonder if she had left her own prints somewhere.

_Only the handle._ She thought. _I'll have to clean it before leaving, just in case._

God, Jennie wasn't used to this life. She doubted she could ever get used to it. Yet, Rosé truly seemed in her element. If she was the slightest bit panicked, she never let it show.

It fascinated the detective more than it should.

Eventually, the woman picked a bottle of wine, and took a bottle of water out of the small fridge, before pouring the liquids in their glasses.

Jennie's eyes remained stuck on them, in case Rosé wanted to discreetly put a pill in her glass, but she saw nothing.

Sure, she could've put it in there before, but that would imply her knowing that Jennie would choose to drink water, which wasn't too likely.

At least, that's what the brunette was trying to convince herself.

_Rosé wouldn't hurt her, Jennie trusted her_.

"So," The silver haired woman started as she handed Jennie the glass, "do you want me to drink in it before?"

This was probably a terrible idea, but...

"No." Jennie answered, "It's fine, I trust you."

For a second, the brunette could swear she saw Rosé's cheeks turn into a faint shade of pink. It disappeared as fast as it came though, and she figured she probably dreamt it.

The woman didn't answer anything, only took a sip of her wine, quickly followed by Jennie who emptied her glass of water in one go, sighing in pleasure at the cool feeling of the water in her sore throat.

"You know who I am," Rosé finally spoke up, voice dropping much lower. "Right?"

Jennie's eyes remained stuck on her feet, as she was too scared to look up and see the woman's expression.

"Your real name is Park Chaeyoung, 32 years old. You work at a flower shop that you've owned for 5 years now."

As she said the words, Rosé- or, _Chaeyoung_ , started chuckling. She didn't seem angry, or worried. The chuckle sounded completely emotionless, which chilled Jennie to the bone. Before she could add anything, the woman's finger made its way to her chin, tilting her face upward so the brunette had no choice but to look at her.

She was smiling, but her gaze was freezing.

"What else do you know about me? I assume you didn't just stop there, huh?"

Jennie gulped. "You... you were arrested years ago for getting into a fight with a man and breaking his nose. You claimed it was only self defense back then and he dropped the charges he was pressing against you. And... you're an orphan, no known family..."

Rosé hummed, her eyes stuck on Jennie's, making the latter's heart beat faster and faster by the second.

After a short moment, which seemed agonizingly long for the detective, Rosé released her and took a step back, smile fading as she did.

"What did Yeri tell you?"

Her tone had no hint of gentleness in it, this time.

"That... you were violent with her."

Jennie feared the woman's reaction, knowing that she wouldn't be pleased to hear that she'd been caught.

Rosé remained silent for a few seconds, eyes wide, before, "I'm sorry... what?" A frown made its way to her face, "She said that?"

"I- yeah, she did." Jennie nodded, "You can't- she's under the police protection now, and- If anything happens to her they'll know it's yo-"

"I won't do anything to her." Rosé cut her off, voice still cold, "I'm not a monster."

The woman stated it as if it was obvious, as if she hadn't killed men before, and wasn't planning on doing it again.

The brunette chose to remain silent, though.

"What did she say? Did she have proof? I can't believe-"

"No-"

Jennie was speechless.

How could a woman who killed relentlessly be so scandalized to hear that she's been accused of being violent?

"Does it matter..?" The brunette eventually said, her voice small, and Rosé scoffed.

"I have to talk to her. She- She's lying, I'll just have a talk with her and it'll be-"

"You can't-" The detective cut her off, and she completely stopped, looking back at Jennie who gulped loudly, before adding, "You don't get it, they're so close to catching you, you-"

"They?" Rosé asked, raising an eyebrow, sounding suddenly so much calmer.

"Y-Yeah, the police..."

"Aren't you part of it too, though?"

Her tone had changed drastically in a matter of seconds. She sounded so panicked, before, something the brunette had never expected to witness, and then there she was back to her usual, cold self.

"Yeah. But I don't want to arrest you." Jennie said, as if she was stating something obvious.

Then, Rosé laughed, and the brunette was growing more and more confused. She wasn't sure she understood even just one thing that was happening.

Then again, it was far from being a normal situation.

"I thought you were smarter than that."

"What do you mean?"

Rosé stepped closer to her once more, a devilish smirk making its way to her lips, "Do you realize what you're doing, huh? Fucking up your whole life, and what for?"

Jennie remained silent.

She didn't even know, she just knew that nothing really mattered anymore, she was just looking for something to make her live again.

"Why don't you arrest me, Jennie?" Rosé added, voice low, "I'm a bad person, aren't I? Why don't you arrest me?"

"B-because-" The detective took a deep breath, "Because I want to help you."

"Help me?" Her eyebrow quirked.

"I know you're only seeking justice."

Rosé scoffed. "Oh, you _know_ huh?"

"It's pretty obvious," Jennie stated, growing a little bolder, even if the rate of her heartbeat didn't quite match that. "I know they won't even try to hear your story if they catch you. Or they won't care, anyway, and I don't think it's fair."

She laughed, once more. "My story?" She asked, and Jennie only hummed. "You don't know it either, Kim. You don't know anything, actually. I kill people, I deserve to be put in jail. Am I wrong?"

Jennie froze at the words.

She was right, after all. She knew nothing about Rosé, except for the few meaningless information that she had found thanks to Yeri.

The brunette was swearing to herself that by doing all that she was doing the right thing, but what if she had been wrong?

What if there was no right, or good anymore?

"B-but-"

"Don't worry, honey." Rosé interrupted her, eyes still as cold as ever. Lifeless, almost. "They won't catch me."

She stated with such confidence, it baffled the shorter girl.

"I don't know about that." The brunette breathed out, panic rising in her chest as Rosé got even closer to her, grabbing her chin gently again, Jennie shivering at the coldness of the leather.

"Why is that?"

"I- uh-"

Jennie wanted to answer, but with the woman's face so close to hers, it was impossible for her to. She was pretty sure her brain stopped functioning the moment her covered fingers made contact with her skin.

"Rosé..."

She smiled. "My name sounds so lovely coming out of your mouth."

_God_.

This woman was absolutely sick, and Jennie was falling for her tricks.

Gaze unconsciously dropping to the taller girl's plump lips and heart hammering in her chest, Jennie wondered if she had ever felt so many things at the same time.

Everything was so wrong, Rosé didn't care about being in danger, didn't even seem like she wanted to be helped, the detective's colleagues were surely close enough to understand that she had betrayed them and sided with a criminal, her whole life was falling apart.

But, in that moment, there was only Rosé in her mind. It was just like she'd been hypnotized, and she was completely at her mercy.

She understood why her victims always fell for her games, really. When her tongue sticked out a little to lick her lips tentatively, then mouth curving into a smile, Jennie knew that she knew perfectly what she was doing, and _fuck_ , if it didn't make her brain melt and knees weak.

She needed to snap out of it, regain control, do something, anything, but it seemed so hard in that moment. Rosé had her right where she wanted, and Jennie didn't know if she should fight it or let her keep on destroying her.

The way Rosé was looking at her lit up a fire within her, and there was nothing Jennie wanted more than to lean closer and-

_No_.

A voice inside her mind kept screaming at her to stop, she couldn't allow herself to fall even deeper.

She had to fight it, her survival instincts kicked in, she couldn't let her have control over her mind anymore.

So, with as much as strength as she could gather, the brunette stepped back and out of the woman's hold, her hand falling back to her side as she watched jennie with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You hurt an innocent person." The detective stated, knowing that this would get her a reaction. "Why?"

Rosé almost groaned at the words before turning around, going back to the large windows to look down on the city.

"I didn't."

"That's not what she told us."

Jennie stepped closer, confidence growing and growing, until she was right beside the taller woman. She didn't risk looking at her, though, instead kept her gaze focused on the busy streets of Seoul.

Rosé was in trouble, and she knew it. She had to know the only way she'd get out of this was with the brunette's help.

"Why are you here, Jennie?"

The detective sighed, staying completely silent for a few seconds as she was trying to think of something to say that wouldn't annoy her further. She always felt like she was walking on thin ice with Rosé, a wrong step and it was all over.

"How... How can I help you?"

This seemed to catch her off guard as Jennie suddenly felt her gaze on her, gulping at the realization.

Then, she laughed. "You _can't_ help me."

The detective risked looking back at her. "We both know that's not true." She stated, voice laced with fake confidence, "Without me, I give you a week before they catch you and put you in jail, best case scenario. You know it's not the most likely, though. If they see you and deem you're a danger for their lives..." Jennie trailed holding two fingers up to the taller woman's forehead. "You know what happens next."

It took a few seconds for the woman to react, before she roughly grabbed the detective's hand to snatch it away, making her heart almost miss a beat. Her hand remained firm on her wrist, not showing signs of planning on letting go anytime soon.

"How would you help me, huh? How do I know you won't betray me? How do I know you're good enough?"

Jennie smiled. She was going mad. Completely mad.

But Rosé was actually envisaging getting her on her side, and hell, if that wasn't worth going crazy for.

"I'll prove it."

"You're so damn stupid" Rosé scoffed. "You should fear me, and here you are."

Jennie remained silent, not sure words were necessary. She didn't fear her, not at all. Just like she didn't fear death anymore.

She had gotten to a point of no return, and she knew this would only end one way. But so what? Jennie would rather end it all sooner feeling alive than actually living for years in pain as she was, in that boring routine some dared call Life.

With her hand back below her chin, Rosé lifted the brunette's head up slightly so their gazes were locked together once more.

"Do you trust me, Jennie?" Her voice had dropped lower, back to the sultry tone she was already fond of.

"I do."

There was no hesitation in her tone.

"Good."

Before Jennie could realize what was happening, the woman was leaning closer to her face until their lips were merely a few inches apart. She waited for a few more seconds, though, as if she was giving the detective one

last chance to back down and leave.

She didn't.

And when their lips finally met in a fiery kiss, Jennie swore, she had never felt more alive than in that moment.

**???**

"Wait, wait-" He muttered, massaging his temple slowly. "Are you sure?"

"I just told you. She told me everything herself, I've seen the texts."

"God..."

The air had grown much tenser, and the woman almost jumped in surprise when he slammed his fist on his desk.

"What the _Hell_."

"I know this may come as a shock but-"

"You don't know anything Kang," He almost groaned as he got up, pointing his finger at her, his gazed darkened by anger and confusion. "You don't know a damn- _Fuck_!" He almost shouted before kicking into the bin right behind her.

The young woman gulped loudly, never having seen him in that state before.

Finally, after a good minute, he calmed down, sighing deeply.

"I've been so damn blind."

"She's a manipulative piece of shit, man. We've all been fooled by her."

He released a bitter chuckle, leaning back down on his desk. "Well, it's been going on for long enough." He scoffed, eyeing the brunette with a malicious smirk. "I'm giving you a day to gather all the evidences we need. Tomorrow, by this time, her little game will be stopped for good."

The woman broke into a grin. "Now, you know how to talk to me, Park. Everything will be ready in time, don't worry." She said, stepping closer to him as an evil smirk made its way to her lips. "Jennie Kim is done for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i barely ever reply but i wanna thank everyone who takes a bit of time to leave comments on this story, it means the world to me,  
> thanks for reading <3


	15. chapter fourteen

**Rosé**

Rosé couldn't lie.

Not being alone anymore felt weird.

She had been waiting for the brunette to join her for long already, yet she had always kept her expectations low. Absolutely everyone in her life had let her down at some point, and she was sure that it was only a matter of time until Jennie did too. After all, there was a reason she had been alone all her life. No one was trustworthy, not even her.

...Except that wasn't completely true. She was different.

Rosé didn't want to be careful with her like she was with anyone. She felt like for once, she could let herself fall, trust her blindly even if she was putting her own life at risk by doing so. The woman had a feeling that no matter what she did, she couldn't disappoint her.

Jennie Kim was never meant to be a good person, Rosé was well aware of that. The evil within her was only begging to be released, for her to let it show to the whole world. She was doing the brunette a favor, letting her be herself, show her true colors to the world. It was only the beginning, and Rosé couldn't wait to see just how bad the detective really was.

The young woman was taking a huge risk, that she knew. At any second, the pretty brunette could let her down and Rosé would be done for. But so what? She was tired of being careful.

The danger, the thrill of it all- _oh_ , it tasted delicious.

Yet, it didn't change the fact that Rosé didn't know how to act anymore. She would know soon enough if she could keep Jennie by her side for a little longer or not, but had no idea if she even really wanted her to.

At least being alone wasn't a foreign feeling.

The brunette confused her, and she hated every bit of it.

Sighing, Rosé focused back on the road. The clock was ticking, and she had a place to be.

She couldn't let her mind wander no more. She had to focus.

In no time, it would all be over.

**Jennie**

Jennie felt that something had changed the second she walked in her office and felt numerous pair of eyes on her.

Her gaze met Jisoo's for a second, before the later looked away, not even giving her a small smile like she usually would.

A chill ran up the detective's spine, though she tried hard not to let it show. What had changed since the day before?

On her side, the answer was quite obvious. Everything had changed. She had taken a decision that would change her life forever, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to stay here and work as a detective for a lot longer. They would know soon enough.

But... could they know already?

It felt like it, from how hard some of her colleagues' gazes felt on her. Jennie tried hard to think about everything that could've happened until now, but found nothing.

...Unless someone had been suspecting something was wrong with her for a while already, and had found out that they were right. Jennie didn't want to think about it.

She was still free, no handcuffs on her wrists. They couldn't know, not yet.

Jennie had to stay focused.

It was harder to do than to say, though. As whenever Jennie tried to focus on the task she had to do, her mind focused on how Rosé's lips felt against her own, and her heart instantly started beating faster at the thought.

It was sinful, that she was aware of. How soft her lips were for someone so sharp, so cold. How good and right her kiss felt. Better than any she had shared with the woman she was supposed to marry.

Jennie loved how wrong it was.

Shaking her head, she tried forgetting about it once more. Rosé counted on her, and she wasn't sure she wanted to spend any more time in this room.

When she finally found what she'd been looking for, she couldn't hold back her smile, and quickly took out her phone to text the address to the woman, making sure that no one was looking her way before.

When she put it back inside her bag and closed the window on her computer, the loud noise of someone slumping down on the chair beside her almost made her jump in surprise. Jennie brought her hand up to her heart instinctively, already trying to ease her heartbeat.

"Kim, hey," Jinyoung said, not at all bothered by the brunette's state, and Jennie sighed.

"Jesus, Jinyoung, you nearly killed me."

He shrugged, "Oops,"

Jennie could sense that something had changed in the way he was talking to her, making fear rise in her once more.

Could he know something? Was this why everyone was acting weird?

"So, what are you doing?" He asked nonchalantly, and Jennie gulped. She had to stay natural.

"Working on our case..?"

"Right," Jinyoung nodded, his gaze stuck on her face, as if he was studying it. "Hey uh, I forgot my phone at home, could I borrow yours? I need to call my wife," He said after a while, an obviously fake smile on his lips, and Jennie almost froze.

"I- I'm so sorry, it's dead, I forgot to charge it last night," She answered, smiling awkwardly at her partner.

"Oh- well, I have my charger here, so no problems-"

"-but you could ask Mark? He's right here, I'm sure it'll be quicker."

Jinyoung smiled, though the brunette could clearly tell that it wasn't sincere. It scared her, if she was being completely honest. She had never seen him like this.

He had to know.

And she had to get out of there.

"You're right, I'll do that. Thanks anyway,"

"Yeah, no problem." Jennie said as she got up, taking her coat with her.

"Where are you going?"

"Interrogating a potential witness, I told you about her the other day." That was a lie, and he knew it.

"Oh, of course. Wait for me, I'm coming with you."

"Actually, I'd rather go alone. She wouldn't feel safe if I weren't..."

Jinyoung hummed. "Alright, Kim. Be safe,"

"Yeah, thanks."

With that, Jennie left, and to her surprise Jinyoung didn't hold her back.

He let her go?

That could only mean that if he did know something, he couldn't prove it yet. Jennie was still a step ahead.

Not for long though, she knew it. She had to act quickly.

Giving her partner one last polite smile, she got out of this place for what was probably the last time.

***

Jennie didn't think she'd ever gone to her car that fast. She wanted to get out of there, and never come back. She wasn't safe there anymore. She had chosen the life of a criminal, and now had to deal with the consequences.

It would be a lie to say it was easy.

It wasn't. It was probably the hardest thing that Jennie had ever gone through, ever.

If the detective could do it all over again, she probably wouldn't change a thing, but still. Her mind was filled with doubts and uncertainties and it was getting overwhelming. Could she really live like this?

Was she even capable of doing this? Or was she too weak for such a life and would end up in jail or in her grave in no time?

Not that she cared about the latter much. But at least, Rosé gave her a reason to want to stay alive. It'd be a shame to end it all so soon when she was just beginning to taste happiness.

...or, madness, perhaps.

Did it even make a difference anyway?

Shaking her head, Jennie drove off and to her secret destination, where she would meet the woman again. She couldn't wait to see her, to see what she had in store for her.

Jennie knew it wouldn't be easy, but she was ready.

She wasn't paying too much attention to her surroundings, and knew that she was probably way over the speed limit. Perks of being a cop, she guessed. She was free to speed as much as she wanted. It felt good. Freeing.

It wasn't until ten minutes later that Jennie noticed the car behind her. She was pretty sure it'd been following her for a while already, and it made a shiver run down her spine. Was she being followed ?

She had to do something, and quick.

Jennie released a small sigh of relief when she took an unplanned turn at the last second and the car didn't follow.

The alleviation didn't last for long though. About two minutes later, the car was back. A little behind, probably trying to hide, but it was there, and the brunette knew there was no way this was a coincidence. They were following her.

A feeling of dread took over as goosebumps erupted all over her skin. God, that was probably why they didn't arrest her earlier. They knew all along, they simply wanted her to lead them to Rosé. She was so stupid.

Jennie knew she should've been more careful. It was a miracle that it took them so long to figure it all out.

How much did they even know? How screwed was she?

God- Fuck, the car was still behind her, and she couldn't let them find Rosé. She had to fight now, had to take control.

She wasn't the weak Jennie Kim everyone took pity over anymore. She wasn't going to let them win.

How could she get out of this?

The red light forced her to come to a stop soon enough, and she was relieved to see that whoever was inside that car stayed there. They weren't exactly after her yet.

Jennie tried thinking as hard as she could, but nothing came. She wasn't used to this. She was used to play by the rules, to do good things and follow orders. Now there she was, on her own, and she had to think fast if she wanted to make it out safely.

She could stop and try to pretend she had no idea what was going on, but it was too risky. She didn't know what exactly they had on her so far, but figured it wouldn't be too hard to find enough proof that would incriminate her, and even if they hadn't arrested her that morning in hope of catching Rosé too, they surely wouldn't let her run free for too long. She couldn't stop.

Driving them to Rosé wasn't an option either, she had promised she'd help the girl, and she wasn't going to break that.

Her only option was to try and lose whoever was following her.

Despite the fear, the brunette could feel adrenaline rising in her. She had never done anything like that, and if she was being completely honest, she didn't think she'd ever been so excited.

She had managed to shake them off for a few moments earlier when she'd suddenly took an unplanned direction, so she figured she could keep on doing that until she lost them for good.

Checking behind her one last time to see if the car was still there when the light turned green, a smirk made its way to her lips, and Jennie pressed the accelerator pedal.

She could do it.

Jennie drove as fast as she could, trying not to go over the speed limit by a lot as she didn't want to draw attention on her, but couldn't allow herself to get caught either.

She didn't think about where she was going, didn't allow herself too. There was no way they could predict her directions.

The detective could feel they were still there, though she didn't risk looking behind. Until she came across another red light, where a few person were ready to cross the street.

She figured she just had enough time to go through if she sped up enough—

But was the risk worth taking? Even if Jennie was starting to embrace this new life, she didn't want to accidentally kill innocent people by being reckless. This wasn't her. She didn't want to live like this.

...If she managed to do it though, they definitely wouldn't be able to follow. It truly was the perfect occasion.

_God_ -

Jennie knew she didn't actually have a choice. She couldn't allow herself to get caught, not when she was so close to her goal. So close to be reunited with Rosé again and finally ready to give in to darkness completely.

The detective couldn't stop. Not anymore.

Closing her eyes as she got closer, Jennie sped up as much as her car would allow, almost hearing the gasps people were probably letting out, though it was definitely just her mind playing tricks on her.

It was okay. Everything was okay. She would do it. She would make it through. She-

When Jennie opened her eyes and looked back after what were probably the longest three seconds of her life, the sight made a chill run up her spine.

She did make it through. But...

A crowd was gathered by the crosswalk around something. Or, someone. It had to be someone.

Jennie did it. She was responsible for it. She hurt someone, if not.....

No.

No, she couldn't stop.

Jennie had to keep on driving. She couldn't look back.

No matter what she did, no matter what happened- she couldn't stop.

Soon enough, they would all disappear, and the brunette would pretend nothing happened. She made it through. She lost whoever was following her.

She did it.

**Rosé**

"What the hell do you want from me?!"

Rosé almost released a loud yawn as the man let out those words yet again, but refrained from it. She wouldn't stand so low.

"You are so boring." She sighed before downing the remaining of her red wine in one go. "It's always, always the same thing."

The man remained silent as Rosé stepped closer to him, trailing her finger on his chest, up to his jaw then neck as she slowly walked around him, the sound of her stilettos meeting the wooden floor resonating in the wide room.

" _What do you want from me?_ "

She trailed, voice a little higher in a mocking way, and a sick smile on her lips.

" _I can give you money,_ "

The silver-haired woman could hear his breathing becoming shallow. Whether it was from fear or anger, she wasn't sure yet, but she absolutely loved it anyway.

" _You're going to regret that,_ "

She was facing him once more, and she gave him a deceivingly sweet smile before crouching down to be at his level.

"You know what the funniest thing about this is? Mh?"

The man didn't answer, obviously. She wasn't expecting him to anyway.

"I never, ever, regret it." Rosé chuckled, stepping back.

She could see him shiver in dread, eyebrows furrowing. “You're fucking sick in the head," He said through gritted teeth. His voice didn’t quite match the words, though. It was shaky and small, and Rosé knew she was in complete control.

She shook her head sideways, the smile never leaving her lips. She could toy with him a bit more. "See? Yet again, lacking originality."

The man started fighting against his restraints once more, and Rosé could almost laugh at the sight. It truly never got old.

_Idiot_.

"The- I know the police are on their way, you're done for-"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door before he could finish his sentence, making the woman's smile grow even wider.

"You’ve got such a good timing, I'm impressed." She said as she made her way to the door, looking back at him one last time before opening it.

Jennie Kim stood before her, hair disheveled and a gaze that didn’t hide her concern one bit.

Rosé’s lips curved into a smirk. “You’re just in time, detective. The fun is about to start.”


	16. chapter fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /!\ TW   
> this chapter includes description of child abuse, and murder (this time fully described),  
> basically, if you don’t think you can handle reading this... don’t, please stay safe.   
> You can read the beginning until you see this ‘/!\ tw’ again, and I’ll put a note at the end of this chapter that’ll explain (with no details) what happened in it so you guys can skip this chapter but still follow the story if you want.  
> That’s about it, enjoy :)

**Jennie**

A shiver ran down Jennie's spine as she took in the sight before her.

The apartment they were in was wide, only lit up by the sun that was slowly starting to set, tinting everything a faint golden color. It barely furnished, yet everything in it screamed wealth, which didn't surprise the woman the slightest. After all, she was getting used to such luxury, Rosé never settled for less. Soft, Jazz music was playing, and a single red rose was standing on a table in the middle of the room. The only touch of color in a grey themed room.

And... There was a man tied up on a chair beside the table, his eyes wide in fear. He was most probably around forty, maybe fifty, just like all of the other victims, and realization quickly hit the brunette.

Rosé was about to murder him.

Jennie had never witnessed anything like that before. She had seen dead bodies more often than she wished she had ; it was part of her job after all, and... she had seen those of the men Rosé had killed, too. She knew perfectly how bad the woman was. Jennie had helped her before, and was doing it again, so she probably shouldn't be so surprised.

But there she was, finally. Rosé trusted her, enough to let her witness such a thing, and Jennie didn't know how to feel about this at all.

She was terrified, obviously. But, to her surprise, the fear of witnessing an actual murder was nothing in comparison of the fear of herself and what she had become. Jennie was _excited_ to see it.

That was it. She had gone mad.

Still, anxiety was bubbling inside her chest, and she knew her body betrayed it. Would she be able to handle it? Was she strong enough?

Eventually, curiosity got the best of her. "W-what are we doing here?" Jennie asked, hands slightly shaking as her gaze remained stuck on him. She heard Rosé chuckle beside her and her heart jumped at the sound.

"Paying an old friend of mine a visit." She answered, her hand falling on the small of Jennie's back, and the detective could swear her skin warmed up at the contact. It was as if her touch eased her and lit her a fire within her all at the same time.

And for a short moment, Jennie didn't care about anything but Rosé anymore, the man tied up before them completely forgotten, and she despairingly wanted everything the woman could offer.

When she understood that the brunette wouldn't answer, the woman gently led her in the room, closer to the man who was still struggling with his restraints, bringing Jennie out of her daze. He was eyeing the two women with fear in his gaze. She couldn't help but wonder what he had done to be there.

Rosé only seemed to go after those who deserved it, who had abused her in some way. If that was true, and that man had hurt her, the brunette was glad he was sitting there and not running free. She knew Rosé was going to make sure he would pay for what he had done, and the thought somehow comforted her.

They were doing a good thing. Most people would just not understand, but Jennie did now. She finally did.

"Isn't it a beautiful sight?" Rosé spoke up, her voice still as sultry as ever, before she sighed in contentment.

Jennie gulped. "It is."

Her tone wasn't as confident as she wished it was, and of course the woman immediately noticed it. It had become clear that she could read the brunette like an opened book, she had from day one, and Jennie closed her eyes for a second as she felt Rosé's hard gaze on her.

"Anything that bothers you, kitten?"

God. Why did the pet names still affected her so damn much?

Jennie chose not to let it show, nor comment on it. There was still someone watching, and she did not want to seem weak in front of him, or even in front of Rosé.

She wanted the woman to know that she was in control too now.

"Who is he?" The detective asked, tone much firmer this time. The woman chuckled once more, slowly walking toward the man, her hips swaying softly as she did, and Jennie's breath caught in her throat.

It was sinful how, even in such a serious setting and with someone watching, Jennie only wanted Rosé's lips on her.

Then, the woman stepped behind him, bringing Jennie out of her thoughts, and she lifted his head so he'd look straight into her eyes.

Rosé licked her lips, before they curved into a subtle smirk "You see, detective, he's been a bad, bad boy, who's done bad things to me."

Despite the coldness of her voice and sharpness of her gaze, the brunette could tell by the way her smile faded, or the way her hands that were holding his head in place were ever so slightly shaking, that Rosé was affected by him much more than she would let it show.

Jennie had never seen her display any sign of weakness, and she found herself being hurt at the thought that she must had suffered so much to get to this point. She suspected it, of course, but to know that even a woman like Rosé could be hurting made her heart sink.

Jennie couldn't help but wonder if the silver-haired woman would ever break. She had to, at some point, and the detective wasn't so sure she was ready to witness that.

"What did he do?"

Rosé smiled, but then again, it didn't seem like she was so okay anymore.

"Let me tell you a story, Jennie."

——— /!\ TW ———

"Many years ago, a little girl was abandoned by her own parents. They couldn't take care of her anymore, or that was what they told everyone, at least. She had become a burden. She was so young, and still so, so innocent. She traveled from foster home to foster home, without ever finding a family, someone to love her. Until, finally, a lovely couple took pity upon her and decided to raise her.

"They were considered Saints by everyone around. They were the nice, sweet couple who saved this poor orphan, and sacrificed _so_ much to raise her.

"But, you see, detective, people are never really what they choose to show to the world. It's all just an act. Always is.

"The man, a gentle husband and loving father to everyone, turned out to have severe drinking issues, there was not a day where he wouldn't come home drunk, and his wife... she suffered all of it. Imagine, this poor kid who had just found a family, hearing her mother scream every night until he finally passed out.

"She remained silent, though. She always did. Even when he got tired of beating her and went after the kid he dared call his daughter. That's when she understood, she was never meant to find a loving family."

Rosé's hand were shaking badly now. Her face was livid, and gaze lifeless. Jennie felt her heart drop the more she talked, breath caught in her throat.

"His friends knew, too. All of them. They all saw the bruises, the bandaids that did such a poor job at hiding all the scars. They went to his wife funeral, knowing damn well that she didn't accidentally slip in her kitchen and hit her head. They saw that poor child who had lost all her innocence at such a young ace. They did nothing, absolutely nothing. They would even dare to joke, sometimes, about how clumsy that little girl is.

"Then, there was this other guy, his closest friend, apparently. I guess he thought it would be so funny to shatter the girl once and for all.

"She had had enough, after that. It got too much, and she ran away. She moved to the city, lived in the streets for the most part, or wherever her feet took her. She built herself a new life, a new identity, so no one would ever find her, no one would know what happened to her. But the scars, Jennie, they never leave you."

The man's eyes opened wide as she told her story, and a broken whimper left his mouth. "..Roseanne?"

Rosé froze the second the word left his mouth, and it suddenly all made sense. Chaeyoung was the new her, the one who probably was desperately trying to move on. Rosé... Rosé was what was left of Roseanne. The kid who had suffered so much.

Jennie wanted nothing more than to see him suffer, at least as much as she had.

She also wanted to engulf the woman in a hug, and never let anything bad happen to her ever again. But she knew it was probably too late.

Could she even still save her?

"He killed himself, ten years ago." She spoke up again, "Making it impossible for her to get a proper revenge on him. But she promised herself that she'd make all the people who silently witnessed all of it pay for what they had contributed to, and would never, ever, allow anyone to humiliate her again."

Her tone was monotone now, and even if she was still looking at Jennie, the brunette could tell that she wasn't really there anymore, not since she begun telling her story ; and then, her eyes lit up again, though they weren't nearly as fierce as before, and her lips curved upward once more.

"I want you to kill him, Jennie. Make him pay for what he has done "

Jennie felt her stomach drop.

_Kill him._

Could she even do that?

She wanted nothing more than to see him dead, or in horrible pain, as death seemed even too good for someone like him.

But... Rosé was expecting her to do that.

She had never killed anyone, even on duty, and wasn't sure she'd be strong enough to do it.

Then, Rosé spoke again, as if she could sense her inner turmoil. "I'd do it myself, he's the last on my list and... I was planning to savor it fully." She smiled, her cold and fierce aura back on, as if the previous her Jennie had just witnessed had never even been there. "But then I thought... I want to watch as life slowly leaves his eyes, and I want me smiling to be his very last view."

She finally walked off, closer to the brunette again, and she picked out a piece of cloth on a table nearby before handing it to Jennie.

Her eyes held a fire in them, making Jennie gulp unconsciously. How she could go to an almost lifeless state to this in such a short amount of time remained a mystery to the brunette.

She knew now that it was all an act, but she also knew that when Rosé wanted something, denying her was just not an option.

The woman eyed Jennie up and down, before her eyes landed on hers, and the brunette felt like she was staring right into her soul.

"You're going to kill him, for me. Prove me I can trust you, and you'll be mine forever."

Jennie froze at the words.

Be hers forever.

That was all Jennie wanted. Craved, even. Perhaps the only thing that made her want to stay alive.

And the price to such a recompense was to kill a man, as ironic as it was.

That was all he deserved. He was a monster, a danger to society, and Jennie knew this had to be done, because no one else would take care of this if it wasn't for them.

What else could she do? She had crossed a point of no return, anyway. She had most probably lost her job, lost everything.

She had to kill him.

Eyes still stuck on Rosé's, Jennie nodded. "I'll do it."

The woman seemed pleased with her answer, lips curving upward into a sly smile. " _Good_ ," She breathed out, making the brunette almost shiver once more. "Just follow my lead, love, and it will be okay."

Rosé took Jennie's hand in hers, instantly easing her despite the coldness of her skin. She slowly led her behind the man, who kept on crying out incoherent things, probably begging for his life.

Jennie didn't care. She was doing the right thing. He was a monster.

Just then, Rosé let go of her hand, instead guiding it around the man's throat with the long piece of cloth the brunette was still holding.

That's when she realized what the woman was expecting of her. She had to strangle him. That's how he was going to die, slowly, painfully.

Jennie gulped.

Could she do it?

Rosé sat before him, her gaze still stuck on the brunette as she gave her a small nod,

"Go ahead, Jennie. Let's not waste any more time."

Jennie's hands were shaking, eyes probably shining with unshed tears. Before she could do anything, though, he turned around abruptly. Tears were streaming down his face, his breathing was shallow, and he was staring at the brunette completely horrified.

" _Please_ , please, I'll do anything, please-" He cried out, "I swear I changed, I'm not-"

When Rosé's fingers went up to his jaw to turn his face back to her, he instantly went silent, though the look on his face said everything.

"Now," Rosé started, clicking her tongue disapprovingly, "You know I can make this much, much, worse. If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut."

Even though Jennie could see his face anymore, she perfectly heard the small whimper that escaped his lips, and a feeling of dread took over her.

He looked so vulnerable. Too vulnerable.

She wished he would insult her, threaten her, anything. Say something disgusting, something that would justify what she was about to do.

But... Now, he only looked like the poor victim of a gruesome crime. Crime that Jennie was about to commit.

She could say she was forced, that Rosé had threatened her, that she was innocent. She could win the Justice's sympathy, maybe. She was so weak, after all, she had just been manipulated since the start.

Maybe she could even go back to her old life, start over again.

Jennie wasn't sure of anything anymore.

Then, she met Rosé's chilling gaze once more, instantly stopping her train of thoughts.

"Do it, Jennie." She said, voice colder than ever, threatening, almost. "Now."

The brunette gulped. She couldn’t back down anymore. She had to do it.

Closing her eyes, she started pulling on the piece of cloth, trying to ignore the gasp that left the man’s mouth or how she could feel his body starting to tremble.

Rosé’s chuckle echoed in the room, and Jennie wondered how she could be so indifferent to seeing someone dying in front of her.

He wasn’t struggling too much, thankfully (Jennie wasn’t sure she would’ve had the strength to keep going if he did), making her wonder if the woman had drugged him before to make her job easier.

Jennie knew she wasn’t putting enough strength to actually kill him, though, at least not so soon.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

“Jennie, sweetheart.” Rosé suddenly called, forcing her to open her eyes again so she could look at her. Her grip on the cloth faltered slightly.

“I- I can’t-“ Jennie’s eyes watered, “I want to... I want to help you, b-but-“

“I was fourteen, Jennie.” She spoke slowly, voice calm, “He hit me. When I started crying, he went harder. I was bleeding, already scarred, but he kept going. He broke me.” Rosé’s voice broke at the last word. “Make. Him. Pay.”

Jennie’s gaze remained stuck on Rosé as she pulled a little harder.

Her brain completely shut down. She wasn’t in that apartment anymore. Her mind flashed images of young Roseanne, of what could’ve happened, of how that man shattered her.

She pulled harder, and harder, not aware of how long it lasted, of anything beside that she had to do it, for her. He deserved it.

She could feel tears streaming down her face, her hands were hurting from how hard her grip on the piece of cloth was.

And then, finally, his body went limp, and she let go of it.

It was over.

She killed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (non detailed) Summary,
> 
> Rosie tells Jennie about her past and how she was abused as a kid, the man mentioned in this chapter being one of her abuser. She then asks Jennie to kill him, which, even if she struggles, she eventually accepts to do.  
> The chapter ends once Jennie killed him.


End file.
